Connecting Hearts
by Litalic
Summary: Duke Barma has informed Pandora that one of the sealing stones had been moved to Great Britain a long time ago. Break and Gilbert go to check it out, and discover the Order of the Phoenix. Soon afterwards, Oz and Alice get involved.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is after the Isla Yura incident in the Pandora Hearts MANGA, and in Order of the Phoenix. Leo has not been kidnapped by Vincent, but Vincent and the Nightray Duke is missing. I haven't watched the Pandora anime. OotP is the first and probably only Harry Potter book I'll read. **

**Pairings: Oz x Alice, though mainly hints. Never yaoi.**

**I'm messing with timelines and settings…**

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

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><p>Ah, The Alchohol~<p>

It was July 2nd. One week since they've been in England.

Gilbert Nightray sighed and stared down at the cigarette in his hand, feeling extremely gloomy. He shouldn't be here! He should be next to Oz, especially now. He snuffed out the cigarette in anger. Oz never did cry, over Elliot's death…and Gilbert could only hope the stupid rabbit could cheer Oz up in his place.

He glanced at Break, sitting at his right. The mostly-blind man had just downed his 30th cup of "Blishen's Firewhisky" in this pub, apparently "The Leaky Cauldron". When **he** tried it, he had spit it right out. He remembered Oz telling him about how he had _kissed a __**cat**_, and how he had sang about sleeping in a haystack last time he was drunk*. He was not going back there.

Break, on the other hand, had made a bet with Tom, the innkeeper and bartender. For every 15 cups of firewhisky he could drink without actually getting _drunk_, he would be paid 10 "galleons". On the other hand, if Break passed out before 30 cups, he'd have to pay 50 galleons.

Now, Gilbert had absolutely no idea _what_ a galleon was, much like how he knew he was only here _in the first place_ because of Duke Barma. He could remember it now.

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><p>"<em>What?"<em>

_They were at a Pandora meeting. Break was pretty much healed; Oz and Alice were visiting Reim. Sharon was sitting next to her grandmother, glancing at Break worriedly. Gilbert, like most of the others, was staring at Duke Rufus Barma, the current speaker, dumbly._

"_I **said**," he repeated, in a mocking tone, "There's large evidence that one of the old sorcerers had moved one of the five sealing stones to Great Britain. There's been movement toward that direction from the Baskervilles, too, if the chain appearances are anything to go on." _

_He glanced toward Break. "Which is why I nominate 'Xerxes Break' to go investigate this. If he runs into Baskervilles, he could destroy them with the Hatter." He held up a hand to stop any protests. "And, of course, since he's not in his best condition, it would make sense if someone, like Raven, accompanied him. Lady Sharon should also keep in contact through Eques. There are only two sealing stones left; this could be important. I'm sure the rest of the Pandora members could keep the one here safe."_

_Rufus smirked at Break, "So, what'll it be Hatter?"_

_Break smirked back, "Very well then, idiot-hair! I'll take seaweed-brain!" _

"_WHAT? You can't do that! And, besides, Oz—" Gilbert did not want to go places with Break right now._

"_The brat is 25! He'll be fine!" Break grinned that evil smile and took Gilbert by the collar, dragging him across the floor. "Plus, you'll get to see one of my secrets too!" Break was heading toward a wardrobe._

"_No, NO! You can't do this to me! Sharon! Someone! Anyone!" But no, they were all smiling eerie-pleasant smiles, and waving happily. And with one last "NOOOOOOOOO!" of desperation, he blacked out._

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><p>Gilbert shuddered. He had no idea what happened with the traveling-in-the-wardrobe. He could only remember feeling utter fear and horror. His mind drifted to wondering about how Break managed to get them to England through a wardrobe, to how Break seemed to know exactly where to go once they got here (even though Duke Barma never said a <em>word<em> about it), to how a bag packed with all his necessities (extra clothes, bullets, etc.) ended up in his room.

(_When he'd enquire about it later, he'd learn Sharon did that, and then he'd wonder about how many people had agreed to send him off with Break beforehand._)

He was brought out of his thoughts by cheering and whistling, and noted that people around the pub were now taking bets about when Break would pass out. Well, he _was_ on his 45th cup. And firewhisky was strong stuff.

Gilbert also noticed a new man sitting on the right of Break. The man was around his 30s or so, but looked sickly. He was tall, with graying light-brown hair and tired lines on his face. He wore a shabby cloak (another odd thing Gilbert noticed about the pub's inhabitants—they all wore these awkward cloaks) and generally looked _shabby_, but nice! The stranger kept glancing between the cups and the bartender.

Gilbert glanced at the bartender too, and realized what was wrong with an _'Ah.' _Apparently, 30 galleons was a lot.

"Break," He interrupted what would be Break's 46th cup. "You're pretty much robbing him. Isn't it enough? Because I think it's obvious you'll never pass out." The shouts of protests from the other customers went ignored.

Break semi-pouted at Raven, who divulged one of his secrets _and_ ruined his fun, but then a marvelous idea came to his mind.

Break popped a sugar cube into his mouth and held the 46th cup of firewhisky out to Gilbert. "Then you drink it."

Gilbert stared at it. "_What?_"

Break smiled that smile of his. "You see, Emily had this i—"

"Don't blame things on your _doll_!"

"_Fine. _Then, _we_ had this idea. Since the cup is already poured, it'd be a waste to just leave it. So, we thought 'Hmm! Maybe Raven should drink it!' If you don't, I will. And many others after it."

Gilbert glared, remembering exactly _why_ he didn't want to go places with Break. This was the man who made him believe ridiculous things! Who bullied him for those ten long years, and still bullies him! (Oz is better.)

But he glanced once again at the pitiful looking Tom, and swiped the cup from Break's hand, downing it in one gulp. The burning sensation in his throat was horrible! He was already feeling dizzy. Gilbert wobbly slammed the cup down, turned toward Break, and felt his head hit the table.

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><p><strong>Ah, poor Gil.<strong>

***I don't think that has ever actually happened. But imagine Oz telling Gil that nonsense for his reactions.**

**I realize this is short, and I know should be working on my other fanfiction…but thank you for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

You Strange, Strange People~

It was July 2nd. Two more months before Hogwarts stared again.

Remus Lupin stared at the (probably blacked out) man, and his friend? who was howling in laughter. But apparently the white-haired man suddenly became bored, and muttered something like, "No fun when he's drunk…"

He himself had just come in barely half-an-hour ago, and he worried the commotion in the pub was a fight. He certainly was surprised by the two odd people who were the center of attention.

The (wavy) black-haired man had gold eyes. He wore a white collared shirt with a cravat, white gloves, and black pants. Over that was a long black open coat, and a top hat was on his head. He was probably in his 20s or 30s.

The other man was stranger. His white hair covered his left eye. His visible eye was a wine-red color. He wore a purple frilly-collared shirt, with a black cravat and black pants. The open white coat he wore started at the chest and ended past the knees. He had a small doll on his shoulder, and a black cane leaned against his chair. Despite the white hair, he looked in his 30s.

The white-haired man was drinking a lot. Of _Firewhisky_. While managing to not pass out or act like a fool. Normally, Remus would be impressed and watch with the rest of the crowd (just not take/place bets). But, the stranger was also pretty much extorting galleons from Tom. Remus had sat down next to him, intending to stop the man. The black-haired one did it for him.

And now, he was feeling more pity and guilt then before.

"Don't worry," the white-haired man smirked, while sucking on a lollipop (_where did that come from?_). "He'll wake up drunk, but he'll be fine. This is actually what he needs…"

Remus frowned in confusion. Did the guy just like torturing people? And how'd he know Remus was curious? He was about to ask (though not as bluntly) when the man abruptly stood up, gathering the galleons. The man glanced at his companion and took him by the collar, literally dragging him towards the back door, muttering, "To Diagon Alley then."

Remus jumped up too. He knew he should be (extra) weary of (these especially strange) strangers, but he was sure the blacked-haired one looked at him before stopping the "one-who-could-not-get-drunk". Perhaps the black-haired stranger knew he himself was hesitant about it. And Remus wanted to repay him. Or something. He knew it wasn't his responsibility, but _still._

"I'll, uh, carry him. I'm going to Diagon Alley anyway." And he was. To Knockturn Alley, actually, to gain information. It would usually have been Mundungus' job, but he was busy guarding Harry.

The man seemed to be contemplating it, and held the other man up to Remus. "Well, we were going to Knockturn Alley, but whatever. You can call me…Mad Hatter. Or preferably just Hatter. " Suspicious fake name? Check. "Hatter" pointed to the doll on his shoulder happily. "This is Emily! And the man you're shouldering is Raven."

"I'm…Moony…" It was a name used by special friends, but "Moony" couldn't think of anything else at the moment. And he certainly wasn't going to give this apparently "_**Mad **_Hatter" his real name.

A simple "Hm." was his answer, and the trio walked toward the back of The Leaky Cauldron. Remus wondered why these two wanted to go to Knockturn Alley too.

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><p>Remus had opened the way to Diagon Alley. Hatter claimed his "wand needed repairing", and Raven "had forgotten his" back at their <em>homeland<em>. So, foreigners…

"Where are you from?" Remus asked. Information could be vital.

"Islands toward the north of the United Kingdom," was his answer.

Northern islands? If it was _those_* northern islands… There was a rumor, of a great power called the "Abyss" in that area, although pretty much nothing is known about it. There are currently four dukedoms, whose descendents have sway over the British Ministry of Magic _not_ through money, but pure influence. Dumbledore had been worried Voldemort might approach them, but so far nothing had happened. But was Hatter here for some Voldemort-related reason?

"Are you related to the four dukedoms?"

"…In a way."

This would certainly be reported. He was related to one of the dukedoms—and even if he was odd, he could be either a powerful ally or dangerous enemy.

"We're here." The pair walked into the alley, just past Borgin & Burkes, when 9 audible cracks filled the air. Remus dropped Raven and drew his wand on impulse. Hatter just raised his cane and smiled.

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><p>Xerxes Break stared at the oddly-cloaked people, searching for weaknesses, mind working fast. Baskervilles? No, they were more talkative. And, these weirdos had masks. Damn, he couldn't see them well enough! Break growled, continuing his deductions. They were wizards, probably. Most likely the "Death Eaters" in "The Daily Prophets" he had Gilbert read about that "had definitely not escaped Azkaban because of you-know-who, who is <em><strong>undoubtedly<strong>_ dead." Ah, some people were just too funny.

Gilbert would probably wake soon, but hey, the guy might fight _better_ drunk…somehow…if he believed his _master_ was in danger.

The (probably) head Death Eater threw off her hood and mask to reveal wild hair and a sadistic/crazed expression. "Well, if it isn't that vile werewolf Remus Lupin! But our Great Dark Lord has returned to quell you stupid wizards with that horrible Dumbledore! And you can't do anything to stop him! CRUCIO!"

Hm. Werewolf. Remus Lupin. Dark Lord rising. Ooo-kay!

The other Death Eaters followed her lead, with shouts of "Stupefy", "Crucio", and "Expelliarmus". Break narrowly dodged the spells and moved toward Gilbert's body, nudging it while trying to look at the newly re-named Remus Lupin, who seemed to be faring well. He stood up and unsheathed the hidden sword from his cane, only to be hit by a Cruciatus Curse.

Break bit back a scream and stabbed his sword into the ground, glaring at the Death Eaters. He remembered this pain! This was the same pain of having his eye ripped out by the "Will of the Abyss"!

Fueled by anger, Break charged at them, stabbing one and facing the second. Before the Death Eater could utter a spell, Break disarmed him with a slash of his sword, and kicked him into one of the other wizards. After calming down a bit, he backed away with a jump, seeing the seaweed-head's form rising, and called out, "Oh no! Oz is being kidnapped by the Baskervilles!"

The reaction was immediate. Gilbert wobbly jumped up and roared, "No one touches the young master!" before managing to shoot down two Death Eaters with his gun (he missed 2 others). He was hit by two "Stupefies" and collapsed. Hm. One of the Death Eaters who shot at Gilbert went down, courtesy of Remus.

Suddenly, the leader of the group (who Break had been keeping tabs on) fell back, randomly grabbing some of her fallen teammates, and screamed, "WE _WILL_ GET YOU!" before more cracks filled the air, signaling their disappearance.

Remus had replied by shouting, "_**BELLATRIX!**_"

Break semi-smiled. People were providing him with all _kinds_ of information today. He walked over to Gilbert's form again and picked him up, knowing he couldn't leave him in the hands of curious people who were already suspicious of them. Well… Break briefly remembered the time _he_ had to be carried by Gilbert, and the time Gilbert helped him fight.

It wasn't that bad…since he was a friend…

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><p>Remus stared at the place the Death Eaters disappeared in anger. He knew Bellatrix had escaped Azkaban (no thanks to that Ministry!), but if she was ambushing people at Knockturn Alley (it would be worse if <em>he <em>was specifically a target), then Voldemort was fully operational! He was probably only alive because Voldemort didn't want suspicious deaths around, alerting the wizarding world of his return.

He saw "Hatter" move out of the corner of his eye and turned his wand on him, but he was ignored. Hatter went to Raven and picked him up. Remus stormed up to them and held Hatter at wand-point. The white-haired man froze, and stared at him.

Remus took deep breaths, calming himself down while working out the details, thinking about the more immediate problem. The two strangers now knew more about _him_ than he did about _them_.

During the fight, Hatter did not scream when hit by the Cruciatus Curse. That took strong will. Hatter also managed to take down _three Death Eaters_ by _himself_, with _a muggle weapon_. **Who does that**? Sure, _apparently_ the two didn't have their wands because they "forgot" them (who does _that_?), but he knew that was a lie. It had to be. "Raven" also managed to take down two Death Eaters while _drunk_, _also_ with _a muggle weapon_.

So, Remus knew the two were strong, and possibly _not _wizards. At least Hatter was related to the four dukedoms in the northern islands. Hatter couldn't get drunk (useless detail), and Raven had a (young?) master named Oz. These "Baskervilles" are apparently kidnappers.

Remus sighed at stared back the pair, contemplating what to do. He ran a hand through his hair tiredly, and finally said, "Please, I need you to follow me."

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><p><strong>Hm. Change of POV happens when there is a line break and a <em>different name from before<em> is in the first sentence.**

***Because _I don't know where Pandora Hearts is set!_**

**Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, so the locations of all 5 sealing stones had been revealed, but let's just say that fourth one, which Rufus revealed was in Count Eyrie's territory, was the one some sorcerer had decided to move that long time ago, and they just found out. I mean, they only found its location by theory, and Rufus even decided to not care about it. So. Yeah.**

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><p>The Injustices of Life~<p>

It was July 2nd. The sun was setting, and soon, families would finish their suppers and go to sleep.

Remus was quite surprised by the easy agreement from the Hatter in following him, but decided to talk about it when they got to Order Headquarters. He wasn't particularly sure whether he should lead the pair there in the first place, but "Obliviate" could be cast on them afterwards. Upon discovering the two Death Eaters that were left were dead, Remus finalized his decision. He'd deal with the consequences, but this was important.

So, Remus had cast a Disillusionment Charm on them, and led them as discreetly as possible away from Diagon Alley toward 12 Grimmauld Place. He had confiscated their weapons. There was no conversation on the way, and Remus was left to his musings about how the Order members would react, growing more and more weary.

Once they reached the area, Remus cancelled the Charm, and handed Hatter the paper that read: _The headquarters of the Or—_

"I can't read it," Hatter said matter-of-factly.

Remus stared at him. "What?"

"I. Can't. Read." Hatter turned around to look at the gap between 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place suspiciously. "But there's something there, right?"

"Uh, y-yes," Remus decided to peg this day, July 2nd, as one of the most unlucky days of his life. The somewhat refined seeming (…) man couldn't read, which wasn't _that_ bad, but he could see 12 Grimmauld Place? Was the Fidelius Charm not working? Was the Hatter (who had gained some resentment from Remus by now) just that _special_? What with his not-able-to-get-drunk-ness and his _doll_ "Emily" and his skill with a muggle sword!

Remus had decided that when they went in, he would let someone like Alastor or even Sirius deal with the two. He just wanted to drink a nice warm cup of tea and fall asleep under comfy blankets by a warm fire. With a sinking feeling, he knew he wouldn't get that wish.

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><p>Alastor Moody was visiting for dinner with some of the other Order members. Dumbledore had said he'd drop by afterwards, since he needed to do Hogwarts paperwork and get reports about Harry.<p>

Remus Lupin was later than he usually was, and Molly insisted to wait for him. So now they were all just sitting around the table, rather bored. The Weasley twins had resorted to making fun of their younger siblings, who were protesting loudly, to Molly's annoyance. Hermione was engaged in a long conversation with Tonks about her _S.P.E.W_. Bill and Charlie were having a conversation about the Ministry with their father, with Kingsley Shacklebolt contributing here and there. Sirius was gloomily stabbing a fork into the dinner table while muttering about the injustices of life.

Alastor, being his usual self, had his arms crossed at his chest, waiting impatiently. The paranoia started to kick in, and he wondered what trouble Remus could've gotten himself in to, when his right fake eye swiveled the door of the house. As expected, there was a soft knock. Arthur stood up to answer it, with a "Who is it?"

"Remus Lupin…" came the reply.

"And what is my—"

There was a large sigh on the side of the door, and Remus said, "To figure out how muggle airplanes work."

Arthur was beaming happily and was about to unlock the door when Remus spoke up again. "I've got—"

"Company," Alastor answered for him. He took out his wand and pointed it to the door in preparation. The others followed his example with alarm. Sirius looked like someone had just brought him a bunch of Christmas presents. "At the _Headquarters_. What were you thinking?" Alastor continued.

There was another sigh. "Please, Alastor, there are reasons. It's important to see Dumbledore too. But could I…"

Arthur hastily unlocked and opened the door to see a weary looking Remus, along with an odd white-haired man carrying an odd black-haired man. They seemed really muggle-like, and not muggle-like at the same time.

The white-haired man seemed to be troubled about whether to be happy or sad, but settled to smiling. He looked around the house, and deposited his companion onto an empty chair—Remus's chair—while sitting on another empty chair—Arthur's chair. Remus seemed highly irritated and closed the door softly behind him, before conjuring up to two more chairs. Tonks hurriedly poured him a cup of tea (she slightly burned herself in the process) which Remus took gratefully. People waited. And waited. And—

"So so so so—" Sirius stared excitedly.

"I get it, Sirius. These two are people I encountered in the Leaky Cauldron and…helped out a bit. We were going into Knockturn Alley when…we…were…ambushed by nine Death Eaters. The two managed to take down five. I took down two. Seven escaped. The two left were dead. Bellatrix was there." Sirius scowled. Remus took another sip of tea, and glanced at the white-haired man. "He says he's the 'Mad Hat—'"

"My name is Xerxes Break, but I prefer just 'Break'," Break pointed at the other man. "He's still Raven." He then pointed at the doll on his shoulder. "And this is Emily!" 'Emily' seemed to nod her head.

"Did you their wands yet, Remus?" Alastor questioned. His wand was still trained on Break, but his fake eye was trained to the ceiling, leaving him very annoyed. Remus scratched the back of his head lightly.

Alastor grumbled and said, "Accio Wand!" He waited for ten seconds, and when no wand came out, he turned the wand to Raven, repeating the process. Yet still, no wand came out. The people around the table stared between Break, Raven, Alastor, and Remus. Remus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, they made up lies about having wands. But they could still see The Leaky Cauldron, and Diagon Alley. Break even noticed this place, and he shouldn't have known it existed!"

Alastor's mouth was set in a grim line as gasps of shock, suspicion, and skepticism went around the table. Sirius let out an incredulous sound.

"How, pray tell," Alastor growled, "Were they able to defeat _five_ Death Eaters, then?"

Remus looked at him grimly before taking out one of those muggle firelags out of his robe pocket, and revealing a sharp blade from the black cane he carried in. He placed them on the table. Molly scolded her children from trying to touch the weapons, and Hermione's eyes had widened at the sight of them.

"The Aurors confiscated similar things we had found abandoned near wizarding sights, but these are…" Kingsley started, confused. Most of the others were, too. Well, they _were_ pure-blooded.

"_Muggle weapons!_" Arthur breathed, "A sword! And a firearm, or a gun!" Heads whipped around toward Break, who immediately stopped sucking on a lollipop.

"Are you telling me, that they took down five Death Eaters with _muggle weapons_!" Alastor forced his right eye away from ceiling to look at Break fully. He grinned slightly when he noticed something "odd".

Alastor walked over Break slowly. Break followed his every step and glanced at his wooden leg sometimes with his visible—_Or,_ Alastor thought, _only_ _eye_.

He pointed his wand at Break's forehead, and roughly pushed aside the hair covering the left side of Break's face, to reveal a hollow socket.

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><p>Break quickly and nosily jumped out of the chair and closed his left eyelid, letting the hair fall back in place. He had been too careless! Letting the "eye" open…it was probably out of habit, when he heard that paranoid man walk toward him.<p>

He could just _feel_ the smirk radiating off of the man, and the stares/glares of the others. Suddenly, he thought this was a bad idea.

Back at Knockturn Alley, Break had mixed feelings about being forced to follow Remus Lupin. On one hand, he didn't know what Remus would do, and he couldn't exactly fight back and run away with Gilbert on his back. He also did not want to use Eques in front of the man.

On the other hand, following Remus was a brilliant idea! The guy knew the death eaters to a (personal?) level, but _fought_ them. Even if he was a werewolf, he seemed to be a nice werewolf. And most importantly, the man had allies, who could possibly be of some use to Break.

He couldn't see what was between two houses he was led in front of, but he could feel a magical residue coming from it. He guessed it was due to the magical ability he learned about as Kevin Regnard, and sometimes used*. It was because he had that magical ability in the first place that he had kept track of wizards, although he stopped after he returned from the Abyss, due to his…depression. But it was because he knew of the wizards, and the _**oh**__ so_ _**great **_Duke Barma knew he knew, that he was sent on this mission. Because yes, the sealing stone was important, and yes, "with wizards" was where it most likely was. He already knew he would be going when he overheard idiot-hair talking with Lady Cheryl, so he had researched a little more about the wizarding world again. His magic was different, perhaps because he was older than most*, but whatever.

Break narrowed his eye at the "Alastor" in front of him, prepared to jump to get his sword, but worried about the people who surrounded him with their stick-wands. No one was talking.

But, as it was, he didn't need to do anything, because Gilbert woke up. One hasty stupefy was sent his way, that he managed to dodge…by falling on the floor. Break sighed lightly. Perhaps getting him drunk was not the best idea.

* * *

><p>Gilbert groaned and grit his teeth before sitting up. Everything was all fuzzy everywhere, but he could at least make out the colors of the rainbow. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard the words "That is not right," but they went ignored. He stood up and staggered to a wall for support. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on in forehead, trying to calm himself down with deep breaths.<p>

He remembered the bar, and Break getting him drunk. Okay. Bad. He remembered someone yelling the Baskervilles were kidnapping Oz. Very very very bad. He remembered shooting two of the Baskervilles, and in turn getting shot by colored lights. Alright, Baskervilles had those special regenerative abilities, so that was very very very very ve—

_No!_, Gilbert thought suddenly. His eyes widened through his fingers in realization. _No, _because Baskervilles did not wear black cloaks, or shoot colored lights at you with sticks. Also, he was in Britain! Through wardrobe-travel! Oz wasn't even here! So someone lied! But who would lie? Break would lie!

He growled and his head snapped up, registering 1. The world was _not_ covered in rainbows, 2. He had no idea where he was, but he was surrounded by people with sticks, 3. His gun and Break's sword were on a table, and 4. BREEEEAK!

Gilbert contemplated a face-wall, but decided "no more head injuries" would do him good. He instead stalked up to Break, and spun him around, not caring about the other people in the room. He caught sight of Break's red eye, and suddenly, other memories began to flood his mind.

With that red eye remembered Vincent—about how his brother was involved with the Baskervilles; how he was keeping secrets about the Tragedy at Sablier; how he had disappeared. And with Vincent he remembered Elliot—Elliot, who had been an illegal contractor with Humpty Dumpty; who had been the headhunter of the Nightray family; who had died at Isla Yura. And with Elliot he remembered Leo. And Oz. And Reim, and Alice, and Break, and everyone else! He remembered not being able to help them*!

And now he was here! It was useless, being here! Gilbert bit his lip, drawing blood. He was only faintly of tears running down his cheeks.

"Why—Why is it? Why? WHY DOESN'T ANYONE EVER TELL ME ANYTHING! Why…" Gilbert shook Break angrily, and dropped down to the floor. He slammed his fist into it, not wincing at the pain. "Why…"

"…Sorry…" Break's words were just barely heard by Gilbert. "Sorry…"

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><p><strong>That ending…it was kinda...<strong>

***1-The magical circle that trapped the Alice-possessed Oz in the beginning. I love Wikis.**

***2-Older than most. What an understatement…**

***3-Well, Gilbert helped plenty, but I think he's just that kinda guy. Maybe.**

**Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews. And, my updating isn't that good. It's once a week…**

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><p>Brats~<p>

It was July 3rd, in the very early morning.

Albus (Percival Wulfric Brian) Dumbledore was a rather cheery man, who was also very observant. He had noticed it was Remus who had sent him a Patronus, and he knew Remus was a considerate person, who would only send it when he was sure he couldn't handle the trouble himself.

So, he had quickly finished up his work to go to the Order, and was surprised by the two odd strangers. Molly said she had sent the children up to bed, after a quick supper. All the Order members guarding the two were irritated or nervous. Albus quickly got all the details from Remus, while watching the men, and decided to hold an Order meeting.

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><p>(This is more of a 3rd person omniscient Pov, instead of the usual limited view.)<p>

Break had been patiently, _patiently_ waiting for the leader of this group to show, while quietly relaying information about many things to the very aggravated Gilbert. He heard "Dumbledore" come, and listened for any details. The pair had decided Break would answer all the questions, unless Gilbert was directly asked, since he had more knowledge of the wizarding world.

"So, Xerxes Break, and 'Raven', correct?" Dumbledore stared intently at the young adults. Raven was staring at his colorful robe and beard. Break was looking off to the side in a distracted manner.

Break looked up to the old, wise voice. "And you are?"

"My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," he replied happily. "Headmaster of Hogwarts, among many other things, but in the end, I'm just an old man. Would you like a lemon drop?"

Break's open eye twitched and he frowned, answering with a "No thank you," before making a show of _slowly_ taking out his own lemon drop, and _slowly_ putting it in his mouth. After all, _his_ candy was the _best_ candy.

"Haha, I see. Then, would you like one, Ra—"

"No." Gilbert's reply was blunt.

Break heard a shifting of robes, and the proper questioning began.

"I'd like to ask, Break… This house is under some powerful protection…so how were you able to see it?"

"I've got a spell to nullify wards and protective charms. It isn't that hard, really."

"Ah, it must've been an interesting find. Where'd you learn it from?" Dumbledore truly was curious.

"I made it. It goes back into older magic though."

"Older magic…no wands? You two didn't have one on you at all."

"No wands. I lied about having one, but when we practiced magic, we didn't have the need for one. We felt the need to fit in here, though, since we didn't think people would accept foreign wizards so easily."

"You didn't inform the Ministry of Magic of your visit?"

"We didn't feel the need to. It was just some sightseeing, after all. We wanted to see the famous wizarding sites of Great Britain!" Break's voice was so incredibly cheery, the Order members didn't know if he was being sarcastic or truthful.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Indeed, but you would have surely had a more pleasant visit if you had contacted the Ministry first. After all, you even encountered Death Eaters, and Voldemort has returned. I'm glad you were able to fend them off, though, the method was interesting." He ignored the Order's reactions to Voldemort's name, since Break only smiled again, and Raven threw a very annoyed look at Break.

"Yes, well, since we learned he was back, we had decided to take some extra precautions to ensure safety."

Dumbledore nodded, and then leaned forward. "You come from those northern islands, don't you? And you're connected to the four dukedoms… I'm sorry for being blunt, but, why are you really here?"

Break leaned forward too, with a Cheshire-Cat grin. "It can't be helped. When the great dukes themselves decide to directly hand over a mission, they expect you to complete it. And complete it I will, whether you interfere or not."

"Wha—"

"Is that a threat?"

"We should give him Veritaserum!"

"Kick them ou—"

"QUIET." Gilbert's voice rose above all of the murmurs, and he gestured impatiently to Dumbledore. "We have places to go and things to do."

Break huffed slightly and nodded. He had wanted to learn about the intentions of the other members of this little group, but also thought they were getting noisy. He waited in the silence, and was about to speak up again, when he heard a crash. He whipped his head around quickly, and heard a woman fussing over someone who had probably woken up.

And, indeed, Molly was fussing over Ginny, who in her defense, claimed to have been getting a glass of water, but had tripped. After Ginny had been sent back to bed, Dumbledore decided to address Break about something he found rather interesting. "You're blind."

* * *

><p>Break stared at Dumbledore for the longest time, in silence. No one uttered a word, probably in shock. <em>Didn't think he'd be that perceptive, <em>Break thought sourly, _He's as troublesome as that brat! _He sighed, threw his head back, and finally addressed the man with a "How old are you?"

"Hm? 113…Why?"

Break mock-clapped in annoyance. "Wonderful! You're probably the oldest brat alive! You're the senior-brat! I should make a _special_ name up, just for you. Dumbly-Brat? Or, Albrat? Or may—"

"HEY!" Alastor stepped up and growled at him furiously, "I don't care if you took down Death Eaters while _blind_ and _drunk _and with muggle weapons, but you should respect your elders!"

"Exactly." Break retorted. "And so enough of the small talk. I'll be blunt too. We're searching for something. What it is has absolutely no effect or consequence on you. However, we wish for as much information on the Death Eaters and Voldemort as possible. In return, we'll do most of the work you request of us. You'll also have a connection to the four dukedoms."

Dumbledore spoke gravely. "It is a reasonable proposal, but, we cannot work with you if you do not reveal your intentions."

Break grinned. "Keep us in sight, then. Employ whatever security measures you want. We can just exploit the hell out of each other."

There was a sigh, and Dumbledore agreed. "Please, stay here then. Re—I mean, Sirius could inform you of your roles and everything else you need to know. Then, I'll be going."

* * *

><p>Albus stepped toward the entrance of the house quietly, thinking about the two men. He had not used Veritaserum or Legilimency for he had believed it would've destroyed the little trust they had. 'Xerxes Break' and 'Raven' were powerful people, with powerful connections. Although he wasn't sure Break told the complete truth, he was sure they weren't complete lies. He could not risk the northern islands teaming up with Tom. Tom would be even more dangerous and determined than before.<p>

Albus heard uneven footsteps, and turned around to face Alastor with a light smile.

"Albus…" Alastor looked back before continuing, "I don't think we can trust them. They're too suspicious."

"Everyone you meet could be suspicious, Alastor. The man walking a dog down a road, or the child playing with his friends, or even the nice lady who sells delicious candy—they could all be enemies. But, that doesn't mean you should immediately shun them. Everyone deserves chances to prove themselves."

Alastor looked unsure. "Still…"

"If it makes you feel better, you could personally accompany them on any mission they might go on. If they were here for sightseeing, and they've only been here for a short time, then they'll need someone to show them around Great Britain. The sights _are_ marvelous, after all!"

Alastor sighed and shook his head, but turned around. Dumbledore went outside, now thinking about the Ministry's decision to employ a DADA teacher for him.

* * *

><p>Gilbert leaned back on the chair in the kitchen. Their weapons were not yet returned. They were given to the red-haired man, Arthur Weasley, to examine. The father figure had gotten a strange glint in his eyes at the request from Moody.<p>

Gilbert had forced Break to explain all he knew about this wizarding world after Sirius Black explained what the Order of the Phoenix was. Sirius had promised to talk more another day, since their Order members were exhausted. Some had decided to introduce themselves before leaving, although they did so wearily.

And he decided he did not like this magical world. It was way too unpredictable for him. Things like this were best left to crazy people. Like Break. Or that paranoid man with that swiveling fake eye. He sighed. "Are you all right with this?"

Break looked up from his cup of tea. "With what?"

"You're following Duke Barma's orders." _Perhaps_, Gilbert thought, _I can still get out of this mess!_

Break's reply was instant. "The only part of his orders I followed was taking you along."

"Wha—"

"_Excuse me_!"

The two turned around to face Molly Weasley, someone Gilbert had already dubbed as a mother hen. At the moment, she had that aura—the same one that sometimes surrounded Sharon and Lady Cheryl. Both Gilbert and Break scooted their chairs back slightly, on instinct.

"You. Will. Not! Wake. The. Children!" Molly huffed and stalked off.

Gilbert stood up, resolving to avoid the woman who had a very good chance of shortening his life-span.

Next to him, he heard the muttered words, "At least she doesn't have one of those paper fans…"

* * *

><p><strong>I have no idea what I'm doing.<strong>

**Break still needs a nickname for Dumbledore. Suggestions?**

**Thank you for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

The Northern Islanders~

It was July 3rd. That marked the official day of the alliance between the proxies of the four dukedoms, and the Order of the Phoenix.

Gilbert woke up early, feeling somewhat relaxed from a good, though short sleep. He walked swiftly and silently down the steps, to find Arthur and Molly Weasley in the kitchen. Molly was preparing for breakfast, apparently, by moving ingredients around the air with that wand-stick. Arthur was inspecting Gilbert's gun, and had the barrel pointed at his own face rather dangerously. The gun was still cocked, after all.

"Uh," the two redheads looked up at him from their work. Gilbert pointed to the gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." After receiving blank looks, he walked toward the man, took the gun from his hands, de-cocked it, and placed it back on the table. "You don't want to accidently shoot yourself."

In other circumstances, Gilbert would have demanded the gun back, but from what he understood; Break and he were under a temporary alliance with the people in the house. As in, "comply to demands that don't matter" and "don't kill them". Although he would certainly prefer the gun at his side, it wasn't particularly important, unless the people here decided to turn on them, something that they certainly didn't seem eager to do.

"Oh!" there was a look of recognition in his eyes. "De-cocking the gun! Completely forgot about that. I love all the muggle technology, see, but I was recently focusing on their ways of transportation. Thanks!"

Gilbert nodded slightly, while Molly threw a reproachful look at her husband. "You mean you could have hurt yourself while playing around with that thing?"

"U-uh, well, see, it's kinda…heh…uh…" Arthur laughed nervously and decided to inspect Break's cane-sword instead.

Molly sighed and turned back to preparing pancakes. Gilbert took out a pan and eggs, deciding to make omelets for the household.

"You…" Molly looked at him curiously.

"For causing a disturbance before," Gilbert said, but he avoided looking at her. Did that demon's aura women sometimes had have an on/off switch or something?

* * *

><p>Ron Weasley stumbled out of bed, and proceeded to hit his head against a wall before changing clothes hurriedly. His mum had allowed him and the others to sleep in because of the strangers who had come in to interrupt their dinner, and who kept them up late. (<em>His dinner<em>!) But Hermione just wouldn't let him sleep anymore, and had come banging on the door.

He was about to open it when Fred and George apparated right in front of him, causing him to fall back as they opened the door themselves. He rolled his eyes and stood up with a huff. "What is it, Hermione? Ginny?"

The two girls shook their heads, stepped in, closed the door behind them, and sat on the floor. Ron and the twins joined him, with the twins grinning at Ginny.

"Ginny here," Fred-or-George said while putting an arm around her, "Is a perfect example of a great Weasley! Unlike you, Ronniekins, who fell asleep right after dinner; Ginny got to listen in on some of the Order's meeting, and find out who those odd people were."

"Odd they were," his twin agreed, "But maybe they could teach us about those daaaangerous lookin' muggle weapons. I noticed they're staying here."

"So, tell us—" Fred-or-George started eagerly.

"Yes, yes, tell us, dear sister—" the other continued.

"What's up with 'em?" The two were grinning at Ginny like idiots.

She nodded smugly. "Xerxes Break said he was able to see the house because he had a spell that could nullify wards and such. He also said he had lied about having a wand, and that the magic he practiced was older. Apparently, they came here from the northern islands for sightseeing, but they didn't tell the Ministry of Magic. Then, they started talking about you-know-who. Break believes he's back! Well, he should, since they were attacked by Death Eaters… And there was something else about four dukes or something…"

Hermione nodded, looking thoughtful. "The northern islands…the four dukedoms… I heard they have some power in the Ministry, and that they're independent from the Ministry too. I'll have to look it up when we get to Hogwarts. The books here aren't very good."

"Who cares about where they're from?" Ron asked, rather miffed. "They beat Death Eaters, with muggle weapons! And believe Harry! We ought to send him a letter, y'know, to tell him he's got more support."

Fred and George nodded their heads. "And…" George started, looking absolutely gleeful.

"Maybe they could tell us…" Fred continued, just as happy

"The nullifying wards spell!"

"Oh, the places we could go!"

"The fun we could have!"

"Whatever," Hermione sighed, "Let's just go down for breakfast."

* * *

><p>Gilbert scanned over the newspaper, and then passed it to Sirius Black. He was deep in thought about whether the Baskervilles had joined this Voldemort figure. It would get more troublesome if they had, since this wizarding world would be even more involved with their search. And the "Dark Lord" would know of the Abyss. Gilbert sighed. Surely, the Baskervilles wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal it?<p>

There was a clash of voices and footsteps, prompting Gilbert to look up to see the children coming down. They stared at him with different emotions, and slowly took seats at the table. His gun and Break's sword were brought away somewhere when Arthur had waved his own stick-wand and said something.

The youngest red-headed boy reached over to gather up food, but Molly waved off his hand and smiled at Gilbert. "So, you already know Arthur, Sirius, and I, but we felt you should be introduced to our children, too. The other Order members are all busy today, though… Is your friend coming down?"

Gilbert glanced upstairs and stood up. "I'll get him." Break was probably obliviously asleep, anyway.

He walked up the steps again slowly, knocked on Break's door once, and opened it to find the room…empty. He was about to step in when he heard a screech followed by muffled sounds of yelling and laughter downstairs. He raced down to find that Break had indeed just appeared from under the dinner table.

"Ah, Raven~" Break grinned, "What took you so long? You're the last one here!" Break poured himself a cup of tea and sat on the left of a very amused Sirius. Gilbert pinched the bridge of his nose and went back to his seat on Sirius' right side, while muttering unintelligible words.

"Well," Molly said uncertainly, "Let's start again. This is Hermione Granger, a dear friend of ours who's staying for awhile." Hermione nodded her head.

"My youngest child and only daughter is Ginerva." "Just Ginny," Ginny said.

"My youngest son is Ronald, or Ron." Ron only stared at food with a pleading look in his eyes.

Molly indicated one of the two identical boys. "And next up the line are the twins, Fr—"

"George, mum," Fred-or-George said.

"…Right, then, Ge—"

"No!" the other twin said suddenly. "You've forgotten again, brother! You are most _certainly_ Fred today. _I_ am George."

"Eh? But you were George yesterday! And I was never Fred, anyway. Well, my _real_ name is Gelatin Euf—"

"Yes," Molly interrupted, "The twins. Fred and/or George. I have other children, who you may have met yesterday, but, like I said, they're all busy."

"Yeah," one of the twins said darkly. "Busy. Like one certain _prat_."

The mood darkened slightly, but cleared up again when Arthur said, "Well, might as well dig in!"

Immediately people started piling food onto their plates. Gilbert ate little, since he didn't have much of an appetite, while Break dumped a lot of maple syrup onto his pancakes.

"By the way, Molly, have you noticed that my…mother has stopped screeching all the time? Haven't seen Kreacher either," Sirius commented.

"Oh, that," Molly nodded, "Actually, it was an experiment. Tonks had gotten some special curtains, as an apology for breaking some…irreplaceable things. The new curtains supposed to be super-effective, but you also need to be replacing them every so often. We weren't sure how often, so we're testing them out."

Ginny snorted. "I expect Kreacher to be off sulking in some corner, then."

"Manners, dear," Molly scolded.

"These omelets are great!" Ron exclaimed, "Better than usual!"

"Raven made those," Molly said happily.

The people who were eating the omelets choked slightly, and stared at Gilbert in wonder.

"…What?" Gilbert asked, slightly suspicious.

"Oh, nothing," Hermione answered hurriedly, "We just aren't really used to eating food here not cooked by ."

Gilbert looked back down at his food, when something furry brushed against his legs. He jumped up in alarm, and reached for his gun, to find it not there. Ah, that was just as well. It was just a very interesting puff-ball creature that looked up at him, anyway.

"That is…" he trailed off.

"Crookshanks!" Ginny smiled.

"My cat," Hermione clarified, and smiled as well.

"What." Gilbert backed up slightly, staring nervously at the apparently-cat with the beady eyes. Crookshanks continued forwards, toward him, slowly, just staring back. It then drew back, looking ready to pounce, and Gilbert prepared to run. As Crookshanks leapt into the air, Gilbert turned around and dashed away. The cat seemed to scowl, and went after him, leaving some very entertained people staring.

"Raven hates cats," Break grinned, "_Hates_ them."

"Oh, that's _horrible_," the twins smirked.

"_Horrible,_" Sirius agreed.

Dark chuckles filled the air as evil plans formed in the minds of certain people. The rest were just left staring.

"Well," Molly sighed, "Once you finish eating, I expect cleaning to get done. We're tackling some of the more empty rooms on the third floor today. Arthur and I will do the dishes." There was a weak chorus of "Yeah…" as people stood up. From another part of the house, a faint scream could be heard.

* * *

><p>A very loud, shrill scream came from the office of one Dolores Umbridge, causing many people to cover their ears before continuing their work. In her office, Umbridge was absolutely fuming as she looked at the parchment. It <em>activated<em>, after all. And it was charmed to activate in only one case. If the northern-islanders used their "Abyss" magic in Britain!

Umbridge grit her teeth at the memory. The northern-islanders had, about twenty-five years ago, broken off from the British Ministry of Magic, despite still being a part of the United Kingdom. That area had always been secretive. Very little was known about it and what happened in it, since they never bothered anybody about anything. Most information was always hidden. The trips the Ministers of Magic took were about once every five years, and during important events. Simply put, no one cared.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who is now most definitely dead, hadn't reached the northern islands, because he focused on destruction in Britain. Yet still, for some reason, they had decided to totally and completely break off all connections with the British Ministry, twenty-five years ago. The northern islands had announced their separation of Ministries, and any negotiations failed. So when the Ministry had sent a small group of Aurors to fight them (small, because 1. People were still cautious of You-Know-Who and 2. The Ministry at least knew the northern islands actually had very little magic users), and the northern islands showed off their power of the "Abyss", they became feared. It couldn't be called any sort of war—it had lasted a single day.

And because of that, the British Ministry of Magic had decided to, like with most events, cover it up. It was fairly easy to do so, since the islands weren't important in the first place. They hid, destroyed, and stored away many of their documents of the northern islands. Aurors that had died were listed as dead because of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Some people had to be obliterated. But not much changed, overall…

What the northern islands did with their slight power over the Ministry was (fortunately) rather anti-climatic. They became even more secretive—they never allowed any outside visitors without consent from at least two of the four dukes. Their problems fully became _their_ problems, and they would not receive help from the British Ministry, and vice versa. Once they were proclaimed independent, the northern islands and British Ministry outright ignored the existence of the other*.

'_So why?_' Umbridge fumed, '_Why would they use their 'Abyss' powers here, now?_' And then it struck her. '_It's just like with that __**horrible**__ Dumbledore! They've been waiting, building up their power! And now, they want to take over the Ministry!_'

Umbridge slammed a fist down on her table, resolving to pay those dukes a visit.

"Those damned northern-islanders! They won't get away with this!"

* * *

><p><strong>The "northern islands" and the "northern-islanders" have become something of a joke to me now. Can't write it or speak it without laughing.<strong>

***I'm not really sure about that story. The "northern islands" are still part of the United Kingdom, so it needed a connection, but I also wanted it to be separate. I make things up as I go.**

**Thank you for reading, and for all your reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

What Insolence!

It was July 4th, the day a certain someone proved her stupidity.

Duke Rufus Barma sighed and stared at the set teacups in disdain. Some "Senior Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom" had sent a magical message that she was coming because someone had apparently used the power of the Abyss in Britain and that was against the rules of something something something.

Of course, Rufus knew that he had the power to refuse her coming. He had semi-participated in the "war" twenty-five years ago. But, Lady Cheryl had insisted he meet this person, to see what other knowledge Britain had of them. The fact that someone used his or her Chain, and that these incompetents knew someone had used it, was quite worrying. Rufus didn't think it was Gilbert or Break, which meant it was either more illegal contractors, _in Britain_, or the Baskervilles.

He sat down on the couch, and waited for someone to lead the woman in. Sure enough, just five minutes later, one of the Pandora members walked in with a toad-like woman, clad in enormous amounts of pink. The Pandora member quickly excused himself somewhere else, leaving Rufus alone. Duke Cheryl had also claimed "an old, frail woman" wouldn't impress whoever was coming. Rufus believed otherwise.

He sighed and motioned absently to the couch. She smiled, which only helped make her look more…vulgar, but Rufus (just barely) let no emotion show.

"Thank you," the not-lady said, and sat down. She poured herself some tea before continuing, "I am—"

"Ms. Dolores Jane Umbridge, Undersecretary in the British Ministry of Magic." Rufus leaned forward with his fan over his mouth. "Please, tell me something I don't know."

* * *

><p>Rufus and Umbridge stared at each other silently, sizing each other up. Finally, Umbridge spoke, "You're rather young, aren't you?"<p>

Rufus frowned, "I don't believe that's of any impor—"

"No, no," she shook her head, "I didn't mean it as an insult. You see, you would have been just a child, twenty-five years ago, so you probably don't know about…a little skirmish that had happened."

"Please," Rufus glared at her, "I know all about it." Rufus then grinned, deciding to scare her a little. "I know, because I had participated myself, child I was…" He raised his hand slightly. "Would you like to see it? The power of the Abyss?"

Umbridge considerably paled. "It's all right, actually, speaking of that power; I do believe someone from these islands had used it in Britain. We don't exactly know who, where, or why, but I'll have you know it goes against our Treaty of Isolation."

Rufus rolled his eyes. "There was never a treaty. You shouldn't make things up from nowhere. We won that 'little skirmish', and we decided to leave you alone. That was all."

Umbridge turned red and jumped up. "Listen, you insolent fool!"

"No, _you_ listen." Rufus stood slowly and gave her a cold look. "You are an idiot. A pure idiot. You demanded an audience; we were nice and let you come. You make up lies, you degrade your superior, and most importantly…" He closed his fan with a snap and smirked. "You don't seem to understand where you are. So let me clarify it. You are in 'enemy' territory. Alone. In front of a duke. Who you've already insulted."

Umbridge had taken a step back with each remark, and she was now pressed against the wall. "Y-you wouldn't—"

"No one would care if you died here," Rufus continued, and started toward her. "You're powerless, really."

"Stay away!" Umbridge drew her wand on him shakily.

Rufus merely sighed. "You're so troublesome." He turned around. "The dukes have decided to send a representative of the northern islands to Britain and judge its wizarding world. We believe that since twenty-five years have passed, there should be an establishment of communication. Whether it is in the form of an _actual_ treaty to keep usmore fully away from you incompetents, or a system of reintegration, will be decided after the investigation. We'll show extra kindness by allowing you to choose where we should first evaluate."

The woman stuttered for a bit for a bit before replying, "H-Hogwarts."

Rufus stared. Umbridge continued, "The—the wizarding school! Hogwarts! It's—right now—it's run by a senile old man, but, the Ministry is reforming that place! We're making sure the children get the best, safest educations! You'll be able the Ministry's ability!"

"Fine. Now out."

Umbridge hurriedly walked pass him, and Rufus called out once more, "Oh, and Ms. Umbridge? Everything that happened here, today…it _is_ your fault. Don't forget."

* * *

><p>Oz Vessalius cocked his head slightly in confusion. "What?"<p>

He and Alice were in Sharon's room, after noticing she hadn't been out in a while, and noticing Break and Gilbert weren't around. The pair had found her in a light sleep, looking half-dead.

Sharon smiled faintly before answering, "Break and Gilbert are in a magical part of Britain. Duke Barma believes that's where one of the sealing stones had been moved. That's why you haven't seen them."

"Right, but magical as in…the Abyss?"

"No, magical as in the fairy tales—wizards, wands, pegasi, and all that…"

"Oh!" Alice joined in, "I read a book about a pegasus. It was actually this girl who had a curse on her, and some prince came by and broke it…"

Oz gave Sharon a semi-horrified look. "You…gave her more romance books?"

Sharon chuckled, "Well, as her big sister, I have to educate her, after all. She likes them, so it's fine, isn't it?"

"Ha… Right, back on topic—Gil' and Break are on a mission to find a sealing stone that may be in Britain. But are you okay? We haven't seen you outside for a while."

"Through Eques, I'm receiving any messages from those two. Britain isn't that far away, but it's still somewhat far, so, I'm just tired…"

Oz nodded in understanding. "Sorry then... But I was wondering, do Gilbert and Break have magical powers?"

"Well, Break does. Remember the magical circle?"

"From the time I was possessing Oz?" Alice questioned.

"Yes, although that's apparently older magic. And, I don't think Gilbert has any. Break said all contractors have some sort of connection to magic, so we can see and recognize it, but not perform it. And I know you're curious—the books about the magical world were ordered…it's in the shelf behind me."

Oz's eyes lit up, and he walked behind her, returning with an armload of books. He placed one in front of Alice, who was reading about a couple talking to magical unicorns. "Alice, I think _this_ book will be more accurate about unicorns. I'm pretty sure they don't drink moonlight and dance with pixie dust."

Alice looked up. "But they're real, after all?"

"Yup." Oz sat down and started reading _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_.

"You know," Sharon said absently, "I think some of these books were required by a magical school too."

* * *

><p>"Well, that wasn't so bad."<p>

Rufus turned around to see Cheryl smiling at him. He heaved a large sigh before collapsing on the couch. "I don't like dealing with annoying people. I'll _never_ do that again."

"Eh? But you were able to gather more information, with no cost."

Rufus' eye twitched, and he wisely kept silently, only reopening his fan.

"So, what about the 'establishing a relationship' you pulled on her?" Cheryl asked.

"It keeps them under slight watch, buries any tracks of Break and Gilbert, and we get to cover more area in the search for the sealing stone. After it all, we can just go back to ignoring each other, officially or not doesn't matter. I figured she'd know more about the important places in Britain, too. Saying we're 'sending a representative' works wonders. They always want to make a good impression."

"Do you know about this 'Hogwarts'?"

"It's a very secure school. The current headmaster is an Albus Dumbledore. I heard he's past one-hundred. So it's probably not important to have someone 'young and charismatic!' correspond with him. Right?"

Cheryl shook her head in amusement. "Alright, I'll make sure it works out. But did you hate meeting with that Ministry worker so much?"

Rufus scoffed, "She thought she was better than me, and believed she could trick me into believing lies about that 'war' twenty-five years ago."

"I see," Cheryl nodded, "But, about that 'war', I'm still not quite sure why you had agreed to participate. Zai Vessalius and Barnard Nightray brought up the notion in the first place, and they wouldn't have had as much support. Barnard doesn't even have a chain…"

"The outcome of that battle would have been the same. I was also wondering why those two had even cared about separating from the Magical Ministry."

"And did you ever find out?"

"Well, not exactly…" Rufus leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, "But it's curious… Twenty-five years ago…would've been around the time of Oz's birth, right?"

* * *

><p>"So, this says wands <em>choose<em> their owner, and no two wands are the same," Oz grinned.

"Like snowflakes then!" Alice pointed out.

"Yeah! So, I guess magic can be fun and happy, but also harsh and dangerous?"

"Why are you two comparing this to the weather?" Sharon stared at them blankly. For the past few minutes, the trio had set to scanning the books, and there was a messy pile off to the side.

Oz and Alice only shrugged happily at her question, and were about to get back to reading when a knock rang on the door. Duke Barma came in and glanced at Oz before addressing Sharon.

"How are you? And has Break sent a message?"

Sharon closed her eyes. "The connection is hard to keep, but I'm managing. Break said he has made an alliance with a group called 'The Order of the Phoenix', who believe Voldemort is back, and are apparently the only resistance against him. It's led by one Al…brat Dumblydore? He also says he's now under the group's watch with Gilbert. It was a short message, but he promises more information later."

"Hmm, Dumbledore… He's headmaster of Hogwarts too." The Duke noted.

"Hog…warts?" The three looked very repulsed.

"It's a school for wizards," Duke Barma clarified, "We're sending 'representatives' there to cover more ground in searching for the sealing stone."

"Ah," Oz smiled at him innocently, "So who's going?"

Duke Barma just gave him a bored look. "Don't ask the obvious, Oz."

* * *

><p><strong>So, yeah. I may or may not update next week, but still, thank you for the reviews!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**And I'm half back!**

* * *

><p>Sincerely~<p>

Albus Dumbledore rubbed his temples before staring at the two letters in his hands. He had been walking through the hallways of Hogwarts for a break from paperwork, when two owls flew in from one of the windows. One was a screech owl, and the other was a black owl-one that was even bigger than some great grey owls Albus knew of. The headmaster had decided to read the letters they carried quickly, and had gone back to his office.

The letter in his left hand, carried by the screech owl, had the Ministry's seal on it, and although he didn't recognize the seal on the letter in his right hand, it still seemed important.

With a resigned sigh, Albus opened the Ministry letter first.

_Dear Mr. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry):_

_The Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom has recently decided to reestablish an alliance with the northern islands, and intends host the representatives at the school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We believe it is important to show these esteemed guests our values in the children, our future, and therefore expect preparations to be made for these honorable guests, at Hogwarts, before the school year starts._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Cornelius Oswald Fudge_

_Minister of Magic_

Albus stared at the letter silently, wondering if this "reestablishment of an alliance" had anything to do with the two northern-islanders who were currently in an alliance with the Order. The two _had_ said they didn't inform the Magical Ministry of their visit.

Albus shook his head and opened the second letter he received.

_Dear Mr. Albus Dumbledore,_

_This is one of the northern island's dukes. We had just recently had a Magical Ministry worker by the name of Dolores Umbridge visit us, with the result being an agreement to reestablish a connection to the Ministry of Magic. It had been decided that your refined school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will be where our observation and participation in your culture will occur. We hope to have our two chosen representatives meet with you soon, as they will arrive at London, and then Hogwarts, before the school year, to become acquainted with their surroundings. _

_The chosen representatives, Oz Vessalius and Alice Rainsworth, are aged fifteen*, and are currently catching up to your standards of fifth year magical education. They will be expected to participate in the same activities, listen to their teachers, and do the same work as the other students of their year. We ask you to reply with a list of their required materials for their school year, as well as any relevant and important information you wish to be recognized. A guide for their time in London is requested. Thank you for your trouble. _

_Sincerely,_

_Cheryl Rainsworth_

_Duke of the Rainsworth Dukedom_

As he finished the second letter, Albus' first thought was, _'They're sending children as representatives?'_

He sighed again as he remembered last year, when Harry had to be a representative in the Triwizard Tournament, against his will. _'And that had happened because of me,'_ he thought sadly, _'I was not careful enough.'_ He only hoped that the northern islanders knew what they were doing, and set to writing reply letters.

* * *

><p>Oz Vessalius looked curiously at the large black owl that flew through the window. Alice and he had been called in by Duke Cheryl for their mission's briefing, and had just sat down. Sharon had decided to follow them in a wheelchair.<p>

Duke Sheryl took the three bulky letters that were in each claw, with one in the beak, of the owl, and murmured a "Thank you," before it disappeared.

"A chain?" Alice asked.

The duke nodded her head. "Yes, it's mine, actually. It was really convenient—the wizards use owls for their mail, so I asked my chain to suppress as much power as it could, to go into a smaller form. It was not as simple as how you do it, Alice—Owl still ended up being rather big… Anyway, back to the mission. You two will be posing as representatives, and more importantly, students of Hogwarts, to cover more ground in the search for the sealing stone. You'll be put into their fifth year of magical education, out of seven years, so you'll have to catch up with the studies of the other students. Please, don't cause too much trouble."

Duke Cheryl looked down at the three letters, and handed one to Oz, then one to Alice. Oz glanced at his, then Alice's, and raised an eyebrow. "You're putting her surname as 'Rainsworth'? 'Vessalius' would've worked fine, wouldn't it have?"

Sharon smiled beside them. "It's fine, isn't it?" She put an arm around Alice, who had torn open the letter and was reading it. "I'm like a real older sister now."

Duke Cheryl smiled. "It's to show that more than one duke participated in this."

Oz nodded in understanding and asked another question. "Also, can Alice and I really use magic?"

"Well, these northern islands don't have many magic users in the first place, and those who do can usually deal with it on their own. We broke off from United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic, though, twenty-five years ago, so I'm not quite sure what happened after that." The duke sighed. "But in the first place, the four dukedoms, or five, counting the Baskervilles, had magic passed down through at least one child through the years. It's like that with some families of the counts and marquesses and such, as well. We aren't quite sure if we're 'purebloods' in the terms of wizards, because we never received any formal training with magic, and don't do things the way the wizards do. Those in the dukes' families usually end up getting involved with Pandora, after all. We're guessing Alice can use magic because she's a chain."

Oz nodded once more, and wondered how Break had magic, and how he trained himself with it. His mind drifted to ponder if Gilbert had magic, and if Elli—

Oz lowered his eyes and shook his head, resolving to just read the letter like Alice.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL_ of _WITCHRAFT _and _WIZADRY

_Headmaster: _ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Oz Vessalius,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster _

Oz had read about Dumbledore, in the books, after Duke Barma mentioned him. He wasn't hard to miss, anyway, what with being one of most famous wizards ever. Oz flipped to the second page and read on.

_Dear Mr. Oz Vessalius, _

_I understand that you will be one of the two representatives from the northern islands, but I ask that you only try to make many friends. When you arrive at Hogwarts, you will have already become one of the school's many treasured students. The teachers will help you get situated, and will help in explaining concepts and giving you any extra lessons you need. Before the school year, your elective courses will be decided. I hope my school will be comfortable enough for you, and wish you luck in your duties._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S.: Normally, in a student's fifth year of magic schooling, he or she would take his or her O.W.L (Ordinary Wizarding Level) examinations, and have a careers advice session. You are required to do neither. _

Oz smiled at the letter. His future-headmaster seemed really sincere. He flipped to the next page, which was a list of items.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of _WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM*  
><em>You will require:<br>1. One plain work robe (black)  
>2. One plain pointed hat (black)<br>3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_The clothes worn inside the robe will consist of:  
>1. A white collared long sleeved shirt<br>2. A gray jumper vest  
>3. Black slacks<br>4. Black shoes  
>5. A gray jumper (for the winter season)<em>

_You will be measured for house robes before school, and will receive them after your house sorting. Your house tie will also be given to you after your house sorting._

BOOKS

_For years 1-4 (and possibly still in use for the following years):_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4)  
>by Miranda Goshawk<em>

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration  
>by Emeric Switch<em>

_A History of Magic  
>by Bathilda Bagshot<em>

_Magical Theory  
>by Adalbert Waffling<em>

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
>by Phyllida Spore<em>

_Magical Drafts and Potions  
>by Arsenius Jigger<em>

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection  
>by Quentin Trimble <em>

_Intermediate Transfiguration_

_Optional Books:_

_Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wandering with Werewolves, and Year with the Yeti  
>by Gilderoy Lockhart <em>

_YEAR 5:_

_The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5  
>by Miranda Goshawk<em>

_The list of other required books has not yet been released by the teachers. Upon your arrival at Hogwarts, your elective classes will be chosen. It will also then be decided if you will take flying classes. _

OTHER EQUIPMENT

_1 wand  
>1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)<br>1 set glass or crystal phials  
>1 telescope<br>1 set of brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

Oz folded the three letters up and put them back in the envelope, to see Alice had already done so. Duke Cheryl also seemed to be finishing reading her own letters.

"So," she said, "You'll probably travel down to Britain soon. When do you think you'll be ready?"

"Probably a week," Oz replied. "Alice?"

Alice nodded. "There's not that much to pack, anyway."

"As for a mode of transportation, Albus Dumbledore had allowed us to choose between a portkey or side-along apparition, or we could use our own methods."

"We could use Eques," Sharon said, looking both hopeful and weary.

Her grandmother smiled at her. "You need rest, Sharon—focus on that. When you're well enough to travel, you'll probably be going to Britain too. The connection to Break would be strengthened, since you're near him, and you'll have less strain on your body."

Sharon nodded slowly, and Oz stood up.

"I think that whatever method is quickest would be the better one," Oz said, "We'll be going to pack then."

"Yes," the duke agreed, "I'll prepare the reply letters for you."

* * *

><p><strong>So, this chapter was full of letters—in other words, it was pretty much filler. Sorry 'bout that.<strong>

***The wikia says Alice is physically 13, but considering she's soooo much older than that, I just placed her as 15. **

***As you have probably guessed, I'm using the movies' styles of uniforms.**

**Thank you for your patronage~. **


	8. Chapter 8

Arrivals~

Duke Rufus Barma sat in Duke Cheryl Rainsworth's office with her, awaiting the arrival of Oz and Alice's guide for Great Britain. When Cheryl had sent the replies to Albus Dumbledore, it was decided apparition would be used, since a portkey would need a rather long time to be authorized by the Ministry of Magic. The two dukes had been notified that the name of the escort would be "Remus Lupin", and that he would arrive on July 13, one week after the reply letters, as was requested.

As expected, a loud crack soon sounded out, and in the middle of the room stood an attentive man with graying brown hair and a dark cloak. He looked at the dukes in slight surprise before introducing himself. "I am Remus Lupin, here as the guide for your representatives. Pleased to meet you."

Rufus nodded his head to him in reply. "I am Duke Rufus Barma, and…" He gestured to Cheryl.

"Duke Cheryl Rainsworth. Pleased to meet you as well," she said with a smile.

Remus coughed slightly and looked around the room. "Um, are the representatives prepared?"

Rufus signaled to the Pandora member at the door, who had been eyeing Remus wearily. The guard hastily left to retrieve Oz and Alice.

"Please, take a seat," Cheryl said, still smiling. "Would you like anything to drink while waiting? Or anything at all?"

"I'm alright, but…" Remus hesitated, remembering an earlier conversation with Dumbledore. The man had said asking the dukes about the two current residents in Sirius' house would be unnecessary, but Remus was still curious. "I was wondering-did you two send a 'Xerxes Break' and 'Raven' to Britain?"

"We did," Rufus answered, with raised eyebrows. "We had needed them to get something for us that could only be found over there. You know of them?"

"Ah," Remus said uneasily, "I had met them, and we had some conversations."

There was a knock on the door, and the Pandora member came back in, followed by Oz and Alice, who were each carrying one large bag of luggage.

Oz walked up to Remus and shook his hand with a, "Oz Vessalius." Alice nodded at Remus, and Oz spoke for her, "She is Alice Rainsworth. Pleased to meet you."

"Remus Lupin," he replied. He felt sorry for the two kids that had to act as representatives, and didn't quite understand _why_ children were being sent instead of others, but he accepted it. He held out his arm to them. "If you're ready to leave, hold on tightly to your luggage, and then my arm. Make sure you don't let go." The two did as they were told, and Remus gave them a kind smile. "It'll probably be hard on you the first time through, so brace yourself." With another pop, the trio and luggage disappeared.

* * *

><p>"What was that?"<p>

Duke Barma turned around to face the Pandora member, who was shaking in anger. "Sir, was that intended? Did you just send those two to where the Baskervilles are? _Oz Vessalius_? The one who hosts the great hero Jack? _Without any guards_! Any one of the Pandora members could have gone as a representative! You never even told us they were the ones who would be going!"

"Quiet." Duke Barma leaned back into his seat nonchalantly. "You didn't know, but now you do, and now they're gone. Protection is not an issue, since the place they're staying at will be surrounded by powerful wards, around a thousand wizards, and a few rather powerful wizards. It'll probably be safer than here, and the Baskervilles couldn't easily guess where they are."

"Sir," the Pandora member growled out, "Twenty-five years ago, we had beaten those wizards! They wouldn't be able to _protect_ him!"

"We beat them because we surprised them. Also, they were war-torn, didn't send their best military force, and had incompetents as leaders. It's not positive whether or not we would've defeated them if the situation was different."

The member glared at him and spat out one last "Sir." before turning around and leaving the room.

Cheryl sighed. "Ruf', you could have handled that differently."

"That was the easiest way. Besides, it's done now… What's next?" Rufus opened his fan turned toward Cheryl, who reached under her desk and took out a letter. She held it out to him.

"Well, we'll have to trick their Ministry a little bit."

* * *

><p>Oz fell against the floor with a thud, and let his ringing head rest. The experience had felt like being dragged under piles of rubble. Again and again and again. He looked up to see a hand reached out towards him. He grabbed it and pulled himself up, to see Alice was already up, although she was clutching her head with an angry expression.<p>

Oz thanked Remus Lupin, who had helped him up, and looked around. The three had arrived in a village, and past all the shops around him, Oz could see the top of a castle.

"Well, this is Hogsmeade," Remus said, "Hogwarts is down the road. You can probably see the castle. It's not that far, but I hope you don't mind walking. I'll carry your luggage if you want."

Alice left her luggage and headed toward the direction Remus had indicated. Oz picked up his own luggage and followed after her. Soon, they arrived at the gate of the castle.

"This is…Hogwarts?" Oz and Alice were both gaping at the majestic building. For such an oddly named school, it had an amazing campus. Remus was smiling, and had a fond look in his eyes.

"Well," Alice slowly broke out into a grin. "It _is_ fitting for me."

"Huh… In any case, the headmaster is waiting for you." Remus ushered them through the gates, all the way to the headmaster's office. He stared at the gargoyle and spoke, "Pepper Imps." The gargoyle moved to reveal a spiral staircase leading upward. The three stepped on, and the staircase immediately traveled upward. The gargoyle moved back to its original place.

Remus pounded on the door with the brass knocker, and waited for the "Come in!" before opening the door for his charges, and going in himself.

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore greeted his visitors with a cheerful smile. With a wave of wand, he conjured up three seats. Minerva was sitting on his right, eyeing the children with an unreadable emotion. Severus was on his left—he greeted Remus with a curt nod and looked at the representatives with disdain and impatience. Albus waited as Remus and the male representative set down the luggage, and took their seats.<p>

The blond haired fifteen year-old sat in the middle, next to the long brown haired girl, who had already sat down and was staring at Albus' robes. Remus took a seat next to the boy, and greeted Albus with a light smile.

"Let us start then," Albus said, and reached under his table, pulling out a bowl of lemon drops. 'Would you li—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a few of the lemon drops had been swiped by the girl, and she had already popped one in her mouth. The male took one of the candies with a smile and "Thank you."

"You are welcome," Albus said, amused. He left the bowl of candy and leaned forward, with a hand outstretched. "I will be your headmaster for the year, as I'm sure you know. My name is Albus Dumbledore."

As the girl was busy with the lemon drops, and boy had returned the handshake, with a smile. "Thank you for receiving us, headmaster. I am Oz Vessalius." He gestured to the girl, who had looked up. "This is—"

"Alice." She answered for him, and leaned back in her chair.

"—Rainsworth," Oz finished.

Albus nodded. "I'm sure you already know Mr. Lupin." He then gestured to his right. "This is Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress. She will be your transfiguration professor." Minerva gave the children a nod, and Albus gestured to his left. "And this is Severus Snape, your potions professor." Severus only continued to give cold looks to the representatives.

Both Oz and Alice had given their future professors nods of acknowledgement, and Albus leaned back in his seat. "Tomorrow, if it is your wish, you would be going to Diagon Alley to pick up your school supplies. You'll also be able to visit Hogsmeade, and a few other wizarding sites in the following weeks. For now, I think we should go over the classes you'll take." At the duo's agreement, Albus continued, "Your core classes are: Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, and History of Magic. Did you wish for flying lessons?"

The ambassadors glanced at each other before nodding at Albus. "I think it would be beneficial," Oz said.

"We could arrange for that before the school year starts, then, if the professor agrees," Dumbledore responded. "You'll also be given choices for your elective courses. You may choose at least two." Dumbledore held out two papers to Oz and Alice. "The choices are: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination. I'm not asking you to decide right away, as I hadn't given you this information before, but you will be getting your supplies tomorrow. You'll need the books for catching up to the fifth year levels. When your decisions are finalized, you could see the teachers that are already here, for extra lessons."

Oz and Alice took the papers from Albus' hand, and he stood up. "Well, the sun is setting. Would you perhaps like some dinner before going to sleep?"

"That would be nice," Oz answered. Alice had given Albus her full attention.

Albus smiled. "I'll send something up to your rooms. Your luggage will be taken up there too. Professor Snape will show you to your rooms, and Mr. Lupin will be here tomorrow morning to take you to Diagon Alley. I wish you a good night."

* * *

><p>Oz and Alice followed after Severus Snape as he hurriedly escorted them to their rooms next to the hospital wing on the third floor, and left them there.<p>

The two rooms were right next to each other, and Oz opened the first door to find his luggage already in there. "Looks like your room is next door," he said.

"Well, yeah," Alice answered, but went into his room. "But anyway, what are these 'elective classes' he kept talking about?"

"They're extra classes." Oz closed the door and sat cross-legged on the floor by the table in the middle of the room. A bed was pushed against one of the walls, and a window was beside it, with drawn curtains. A mirror and wardrobe was n the other side of the room. "You get to choose which classes to take, though."

Alice sat next to Oz, and took out the paper they had been given. "So these are the choices. What do you think about them?"

Oz took out his own paper, and rested his head on the table. "Care of Magical Creatures sounds fun. And I don't think we'll need to take Muggle Studies."

"I'm not going to take Ancient Runes or Arith…something. Complicated things are always annoying." Alice huffed.

"I'll probab—"

There was a loud crack as a small figure appeared by the duo. It was wearing a tied piece of cloth, and had bat-like ears with a long nose. He was carrying two trays of food, which set the trays down on the table. The being backed away, wringing his hands. "Dobby brought food to master representatives. Dobby hopes masters like it."

Oz smiled at him, and tried to recall what kind of creature Dobby was. "Thank you, Dobby."

Dobby gave a slight start and bowed his head. "Dobby is a house-elf! Dobby does not deserve—"

"I have no idea what a house-elf is," Alice interrupted, "And I don't care—if all I know is that you're a 'Dobby', then that's fine too. So! Make sure to keep bringing me food." She bit into a piece of meat.

Dobby nodded vigorously and disapparited. Oz looked on, amused, then turned to the food and picked up a biscuit. "Anyway, I think that I'll probably take up Ancient Runes. Deciphering texts is something I had gotten used to, when I tried reading through all the books back home."

"I see." Alice stuffed another piece of meat in her mouth. "What'sh Divinenasion?"

"Hm, it was…telling the future I think." Oz gulped down a glass of water.

"A useful skill. I'll take it. Do you…think I could find out more about my past?"

Oz set the cup down and smiled at her. "The only way to find out is to try. Also, we'll have to explore a lot of this school, and see if we can find anything about the sealing stone in the library. Although…well, never mind."

"What is it?"

"Just finding the sealing stone—I don't think that's the only reason we were sent here. It doesn't much sense…"

Alice stood up and dusted herself off. "It won't matter if it doesn't get in the way of our purposes. Good night, Oz."

"Good night, Alice."

Alice left to her own room, and Oz got up to get ready for bed. After changing clothes, he noticed the trays of food were gone, probably thanks to Dobby. Oz jumped into bed and slowly fell asleep, willing any uneasy feelings away.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I'm not quite sure what to do with those Pandora Hearts developments…but it'll work out.<strong>

**Thank you for reading, and for all your reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

Diagon Alley~

"So where are we going first?" Oz asked.

Mr. Lupin had gone to pick up Oz and Alice for their Diagon Alley trip after breakfast, and the trio had apparated from Hogsmeade.

"Ah, well, you'll need to get proper wizarding money from the bank—Gringotts. Did your…patrons set up an account?" Remus asked.

"Hm, probably not. But we _did_ bring money, so it could just be exchanged, right?" Oz replied.

Remus nodded. "Dumbledore gave me some extra money in case you needed it, too."

Remus led the group toward the large white bank, and Oz paused to read the inscription warning thieves before going in. He and Alice stared at the working goblins for a while, and then got into line to exchange money.

Once they heard the "Next!", the two walked up to the counter, where a goblin was sitting with a sour expression. His nametag read _Ragnok_.

"How much?" the goblin grumbled, and looked at them expectantly.

Oz brought out 500 pounds, and Alice brought out another 500. The money they would receive was expected to last the whole year, and just shopping would already take a lot of it. Each one received 100 galleons in return, and they stepped out of line to meet with their guide, who was waiting patiently.

"By the way," Oz asked, "What are the values of the money here?" He saw three different types of coins, and had established that the gold coins were the most important, but he wasn't sure how the coin types were connected.

Remus started walking to the exit while explaining to them, "Twenty-nine bronze knuts equal one silver sickle, and seventeen sickles equal one gold galleon… Also, about which shops we're heading to first, it's probably best to be fitted for robes first, and to get a wand last. Everything we buy in between will be of heavier weight, but we—well, I—can cast a hover charm on them."

The trio exited the bank, and Remus led them to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Oz and Alice gave Remus a total of twenty-six galleons, and he left with a promise to return after buying the pair's cauldrons. Three brief good-byes later, Oz and Alice entered the shop.

* * *

><p>Madam Malkin happily greeted the customers who entered her shop. Both were young, but one was a blond-haired boy, while the other was a brown-haired girl. She took a moment to glance over their clothes—the boy was wearing a white-collared shirt, an open black vest, dark green trousers, and black boots. The girl wore a red coat, black skirt, and white boots.<p>

"So, dears, what're your names? And what can I do for you today?" she asked. It was a bit early for Hogwarts students to be buying robes, and these two were a bit too old for first-years anyway. So why had they come?

The boy gave her a smile in reply. "Oz Vessalius."

The girl also introduced herself. "I'm Alice…Rainsworth."

Malkin nodded, and Oz spoke up again. "We're here for our Hogwarts robes—we're not entering first year though. We're kinda like transfer students actually."

Malkin smiled again. "Well, I'm glad you're going to Hogwarts. It's a lovely school! And with a nice headmaster." She led the pair to a podium, and motioned one of them to step up first. Alice took the place, and Malkin pulled out a measuring tape, which started to take measurements by itself. "You'll get one plain black robe and hat for now, but when we get the information about which house you'll be sorted into, you'll receive those robes too—paid for by the school. Do you have the required inner clothing?" At Alice's nod, she motioned Oz toward a rack. "You'll find the gloves you need there."

Oz walked over and examined the gloves before choosing a matching pair. Malkin finished recording Alice's measurements, and she stepped off to allow Oz on. The measurement process was repeated, and soon afterwards, Oz was also done.

"Well," Malkin said, "The gloves are one galleon each pair, and the clothes will come to a total of 8 galleons and 16 sickles. Please come back in an hour, or later if needed."

Oz and Alice nodded and paid her for the gloves, and then the clothes in advance, before leaving the store.

* * *

><p>Outside, Oz was met by the sight of Remus carrying a pack of quills, along with two bottles of ink and a roll of parchment. Next to him hovered two new cauldrons.<p>

Remus walked toward the pair with a smile. "Nothing went wrong, I presume? I was able to buy some writing materials for you two, although the school _does _provide their own."

"Oh. Wait, the money!" Oz's eyes widened.

"There's no need for it," Remus said, "The headmaster insisted on getting you something, and said not to worry about it." Remus deposited the materials in his hands into one of the cauldrons, which sagged slightly and went back to its original hovering position. Oz also put the dragon hide gloves in.

"Now then, you'll still need to get books, and the other required materials, before you get wands." Remus led his charges to Flourish and Bolts and, again, received the money (sixteen galleons each) to buy the scale sets, telescopes, and glass phials from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment.

* * *

><p>Alice walked into the bookstore with Oz to find it packed full of books, coming from every direction. She gently prodded one of books in the middle of a sack, only to have the whole thing fall over. Oz carefully stepped over a stack on the floor, and walked to where a store clerk was, reading a book.<p>

"Excuse me," Oz said. The store clerk glanced up, read a little longer, and then shut the book.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Where do you sell school books?"

The clerk thrust his thumb toward a row of rather neat book shelves, and reopened his book. Oz and Alice treaded through the books to the area and looked around. Oz took out the letter of required supplies and books for Hogwarts from his pockets*, and glanced over them. "Sharon had some of the books we needed classes, but I'll find the rest. I'll get the books we need for the elective classes too. So…could you try and find any information about the sealing stone, or our islands?"

The dukes had told Alice and Oz about the "war" the northern islands had with the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic, and Duke Barma wasted no time in telling Oz why he believed Zai Vessalius had decided to bring up the notion of separation when he did. Oz showed no visible reaction, but after the time she spent with him, Alice could tell Oz had felt a little more betrayed. They were informed that the event probably had nothing to do with the sealing stone, but it that might reveal something else.

Alice nodded at Oz's suggestion, and weaved through many different shelves and piles, trying to find something that stuck out. In a corner of a room were stacks of old newspapers, each one titled _The Quibbler_. Alice pursed her lips before taking a few off the top and looking through the dates. _1985—that was the year Oz had turned fifteen, _and_ was cast into the Abyss. _The newspaper listed possibilities of new spells. Alice tossed the paper aside after skimming through it, and dug further in the pile. _1970—the year Oz was born._ Alice sifted through the pages quickly. The specific newspaper, along with several ones of similar years and months, were chock full of articles about Voldemort.

Alice knew who Voldemort was—it would've been really hard to miss information about him in the books she read. There was one book that had seemed dedicated to listing every evil or strange event that happened after Voldemort's reign as something caused by Voldemort. It was an odd (but entertaining) book, and Oz said he had no idea how it got published. [An example from the text: _Y'know those sightings of the, like, flying cucumbers and, like, killer rabbits? It's VOLDEMORT! Ohsmigoshes~, I can't believe I said that! Forgive meeeee! Wah WAH Wah wah wah!_]* The author was apparently a distant cousin of one Gilderoy Lockhart.

Alice paused in her searching, and this time carefully looked through the pages of the newspapers during the year of 1970. Near the end of one of them was a rather long article about wizards rebelling during the terror of Voldemort. She spotted a passage about the northern islands, and considering her search to be finished, closed the newspaper. She walked back to Oz, who was carrying a heavy stack of books, but smiled brightly at her. The top book read _Unfogging the Future_.

Oz carried his books to the counter, and the clerk set down his book and raised his eyebrows, but asked no questions. Alice handed Oz the newspaper, who handed it to the clerk. "And could we also buy this?"

The clerk glanced down at the paper and rolled his eyes before handing it back. "You can _have_ that. We were about to throw the old newspapers out anyway. Besides, it's the _**Quibbler**_." The clerk looked through the other textbooks. "That'll be a total of 78 galleons."

Alice and Oz took out their quickly diminishing supply of money and paid the clerk, and they each grabbed half of the pile of books.

* * *

><p>Remus Lupin set the carefully wrapped fragile materials into the empty cauldron, and started out of the shop. He leaned against the wall of Flourish and Bolts and let his mind drift a little once he realized the children were still in the store.<p>

The children. Remus shook his head a little, but carried a smile. Molly would've had a fit if she knew about these representatives. Remus had mixed feelings about them, and mixed feeling about going _shopping_ with them. Of course, he was the only one for the job. Dumbledore and Minerva were busy with the school and the Ministry, Mundungus was still guarding Harry, Snape would never agree to the job, Sirius was stuck in his house, Hagrid was negotiating with giants, Molly was busy taking care of her children…and most of the others were working in the Ministry.

Well, Remus _did_ believe handling the ch—_representatives_ was better than dealing with the other two northern-islanders who were currently inhabiting the headquarters. Break would either be spending time with the children (and implanting destructive ideas in their minds) or sipping tea without a care in the world. When called to do chores, he would mysteriously disappear, only to be found in some enclosed space, _still sipping tea_.

Raven was better, at least. The young man had been reading through some of the books in the house, and occasionally talked to Sirius. He would do errands and chores, although irritably. It showed, and one day, he snapped. When the specialty curtains hanging over Walburga Black's portrait had fallen apart, and she re-started her screaming, Raven had angrily put a few bullets in the painting. Everyone, including Raven and painting, was shocked. The days after that were somewhat calmer, though Raven had increased his queries about going outside to complete the task from his dukes. Every time Alastor was there, a yelling match would occur over the topic, which would be quieted once Sirius' mother decided to join in.

Yes, his task was most definitely easier. Remus cleared his thoughts as he spotted Oz and Alice walking out of the bookstore. He remembered to ask them something that had been bothering him for a while.

* * *

><p>Oz had torn out the sheets about the rebelling wizards in the newspaper, and tucked it into his pockets, next to the pocket-watch. The rest of the magazine had been put in the cover of one of the books.<p>

He and Alice walked out of the shop and spotted Mr. Lupin leaning against a wall. They walked towards him and he apparently noticed, as he stood up straighter and headed back towards them with a smile. He took the books from their hands and added them to the cauldron that held parchment. Oz noticed the other cauldron contained wrapped objects—probably their other needed supplies.

"It's almost the end of the trip," said Remus, "Only the wand is left, and you could choose a pet if you wanted one... But we could get pets another day. I'll pick up the robes from Madam Malkin's for you."

Oz and Alice nodded, and started following him again. They were surprised when Remus asked, "Do you know a 'Xerxes Break' and a 'Raven'?"

Oz and Alice exchanged a quick glance before Oz looked up at Remus with feigned ignorance and true curiosity (though it was about other things). "No idea. Well, I mean, there are plenty of ravens all around, but… Why do you ask?"

Remus paused for a second before shaking his head and continuing on. "Never mind. There's no reason."

The trio soon reached Ollivander's Wand Shop, and Remus went on his way.

* * *

><p>The store was lined with shelves of stacked boxes, which Oz guessed contained wands. A few seconds later, after Oz was about to call for someone, a white-haired man appeared before them, with shining eyes and an amused smile.<p>

"Well well! I don't usually expect customers this early." The man—whom Oz decided was Ollivander—pulled out a tape measure and looked at Oz and Alice expectantly. "But, what are you here for? Fixing broken wands? Getting a new wand?"

"New wands," Oz answered. "And our first ones. We'll be sort of like transfer students to Hogwarts."

Ollivander nodded. "Well, I'll have you know that the wand chooses the wizard, first of all. Which one of you will be first? And hold out your wand arm, or your dominant arm."

After Oz stepped up, the wandmaker held the tape measure flat against the palm of his hand. It began measuring in the oddest places—between the eyes, from shoulder to shoulder…all the while, Ollivander had been looking through many different boxes, and after a while, he made a motion at the tape measure, which abruptly stopped and dropped to the ground.

"Try this then." Ollivander opened a box and held it out to Oz. "Cypress and dragon heartstring—12 ½ inches. Supple."

Oz peered into the box intently, and looked over the finely carved wood. Would the wand choose him? Would the wand reject him?

"Give it a wave then," Ollivander urged.

He hesitantly reached forward, and grasped the wand firmly.

And then a box shot out and knocked Oz over the head.

"Not the one then!" Ollivander exclaimed cheerfully. He reached out and took the wand from a fallen Oz's hand, then helped him up. After putting that wand back in its proper place, the wandmaker presented Oz with another wand. "Beech and unicorn hair—10 inches. Good for charms!"

And on it went. The more things generally went wrong, the happier Ollivander became, and the wearier Oz became at the wandmaker's happiness. Eventually, the right wand found him. "Cedar and phoenix feather—8 inches. Unyielding." When Oz touched the wand, he could feel the weariness fade from his body. Black sparks shot out of the end of the wand.

"There you are then!" Ollivander smiled, then waved his wand at the fallen tape measure, which started measuring Alice. After seeming to finish its process, the tape measure once again lay dead on the floor. The wandmaker brought out a box and handed it to Alice. "Ebony and phoenix feather—14 inches. Good with transfiguration."

Alice grabbed the wand, which immediately flew out of her hand and slapped Ollivander in the face. Ollivander did not seem to mind, however, and seemed more preoccupied about catching the wand before it could hit the ground. "Wouldn't want it to be scratched now, would we?"

As it turned out, Alice had an easier time finding (or being found by) a wand. After trying "Hawthorn and unicorn hair—11 ¾ inches. Slightly springy," Alice was presented with "Blackthorn and dragon heartstring—9 ½ inches. Good at combative magic." After receiving the wand, Alice looked a little happier. Like with Oz's, black sparks shot out of the tip.

Ollivander walked over to his desk. "It's seven galleons each. I wish you luck at Hogwarts."

After paying him, Oz and Alice walked out of the shop, each examining their new wands.

"Alice," Oz asked, "How did it feel when you touched the right wand?"

Alice held the wand a little closer to herself. "It was warm."

With smiles on their faces, Oz and Alice walked toward the general direction of Remus, ready to go back to Hogwarts.

* * *

><p><strong>So, yeah… Lots of line breaks. Also, I'm currently obsessed with a children's card game.<strong>

***Oz does have pockets, yes? Let's pretend he has pockets. _Because pockets are awesome_. **

***Yes, random, I know.**

**If you'd like me to post my reasoning for their wands, ask. I'd probably put it on my profile.**

**Thank you for your support~ **


	10. Chapter 10

The Opposition~

Oz woke up and yawned before sitting up. Light streamed through the window of his room. It had been a week* since their trip to Diagon Alley. He and Alice had read through that newspaper article about the rebelling wizards, to find out the wizards' perspectives. Obviously, the northern islands were seen as the ones in the wrong, and perhaps they were. The reporter was someone at the scene, who had seen the "raw power of the summoned beasts". The author noted that the Aurors' morale had completely broken at the sight. "If only Alastor Moody was there," the article said, "Yet the great Auror had been fighting the Dark Lord!"

Oz got up from bed and stretched. While the article did give insight on the fight, nothing about the sealing stone had been mentioned. It made sense, of course, since the stone had probably been moved some years right after the Tragedy of Sablier. Alice and Oz had also visited Hogwart's library, and though it was more organized, nothing was found. The pair had then learned about the restricted section of the library, but could not yet chance visiting it.

Oz shook his head and changed clothes. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things. In the past week, Oz and Alice had managed to meet with some of the teachers at the school, and practice spells with their new wands. It had taken several tries, and many failures, but the two had been able to learn some of the more important lessons of the first years'. There was still a little over a month left to catch up to fifth year standards. And today they had their first flying lessons.

Oz walked out of the room and towards the great dining hall. When he had first seen it five days ago, he was amazed. It was then that he and Alice were introduced to the rest of the Hogwarts staff.

"Oz."

Oz stopped in his tracks and turned around slightly to let Alice catch up to him. The two walked together, while talking.

"It's just awhile longer before this school starts," Alice said. "I wonder if we'll have to act like actual representatives."

"Nope." Oz shook his head. "We're supposed to be regular old students…even though we're transfer students."

"Oh. Does that mean we'll get put into those different houses?"

"Probably along with the rest of the first-years, though the headmaster said he'd introduce us separately if we wanted it."

"Well, being 'normal students', we can't stick out too much."

"Not that it matters. We already would stick out, what with being older students mixed in with the younger ones."

The two quieted as they entered the great hall, and greeted their professors before sitting down to eat.

* * *

><p>"Go ahead then. Just put your hand over the broom and say 'Up!'" Rolanda Hooch said. She was instructing the representatives—though she didn't think of them as representatives at all—on how to handle brooms. The three were in a clear wide opening, and she had prepared two of the school brooms for practice.<p>

After some failures, Rolanda observed Alice grow more and more ticked off before she shouted the word and forced the broom into her hand. Oz was more patient, and had attempted different ways of saying "Up!" to get it up.

Rolanda smiled slightly. Yes, these weren't representatives at all. They had their quirks, and she had grown fond of them. They are her current students—nothing more, nothing less. Rolanda knew of the trouble the northern islands caused back when the Dark Lord had come to power, but she couldn't hold against these _children_. It was the fault of the government of the northern islands, after all. Who in their right minds would send children to do their work?

Rolanda sighed, and gave the next instruction. "Now mount the broom, and make sure it's secure in your hands. At my signal, kick off, just slightly, and hover. When I signal you again, you can lean forward to touch the ground, and we'll move on. Ready? Go!"

Oz and Alice did as instructed, and after a few seconds, Rolanda held up a hand. "Stop."

The two came down again, and Rolanda nodded her head in approval. "Well then, next, you can try for a higher height by tilting the broom up, but make sure you don't fall off. Lean forward for acceleration, lean to the sides to turn. Why don't you circle around the field, and you can try for a tour around campus, though I will warn you it's big."

Rolanda conjured a whistle with her wand, and hung it around Oz's neck, as she considered him to be the more responsible one of the two. "If you _do_ fall or get injury, just blow the whistle, and I'll come as fast as I can."

The pair nodded, and took off.

* * *

><p>Alice flew around at top speed while observing the scenery below. Oz flew right next to her, looking rather pained.<p>

"Alice, can't we slow down? The wind is real—"

"What was that? Can't hear you over the wind!"

Oz sighed and tried again. "The wind! It's annoying! Slow down!"

Alice slowed with Oz, and they stopped in midair. They looked down on the grounds of the large Hogwart's castle, with its beautiful lake and "Forbidden Forest".

"Flying is fun," Alice said, "You're up in the sky and everything is underneath you."

"Yeah, that's nice and all," Oz replied. He was smiling, but his eyes twitched. "We just have to forget we're really high up in the air and can fall at any time."

Alice laughed voraciously. "What are you talking about, Oz!"

"Al—"

"Like this, we've got the high ground!"

* * *

><p>Lord Voldemort looked down at the red-cloaked people, who had somehow discovered his location* and approached him. The Death Eaters around him all had their wands pointed toward them, but they had not yet shot any spells because of Bellatrix's sudden cry of "Stop!" While it was obvious that Bella would not be listened to over Voldemort, but the Dark Lord had stopped his followers in curiosity.<p>

Nagini slithered up her master's chair and rested on his shoulders. She hissed, '_Master, they have a strange power!'_

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "Speak, Bellatrix." The woman was in his inner circle, so he could not simply kill her off. Besides that, Bella was fiercely loyal, and would have been the first one to incinerate the intruders—unless she had a reason not to. Voldemort decided that his mercy at her interruption would be her "welcome back present" from Azkaban.

Bellatrix immediately dropped on her knees and bowed. "My lord, these people are the ones who broke me out of Azkaban."

Voldemort looked at the silent figures again, but with more interest. "I see. Did you meet with them at a later time to tell them of this location?"

Bellatrix fiercely shook her head. "No, my lord! I would never! I don't know how they found this place."

Voldemort addressed the strangers this time. "Who are you, then?"

The three cloaked figures stayed silent, and one of the naïve younger Death Eaters spoke up. "What are you waiting for! The master ordered y—"

Another Death Eater quickly eliminated the one who spoke. Through it all, Voldemort did not once blink at the scene, but only continued staring at the strangers, and waiting. Finally, one of them took their hood off.

It was a girl, with pink hair and pink eyes—pink eyes that gave off the same crazy aura as Bella's.

She looked up at Voldemort and grinned widely. "Tom Riddle, wasn't it?"

Killing curses immediately flew at the trio without stop—even Bellatrix held no mercy for her saviors. In the meantime, "Tom Riddle" was scowling angrily. How could these people, of whom _he_ did not know about, know such details about him?

Shouts of fury and fear brought him out of his thoughts, and his eyes widened slightly as he witnessed the great _Avada Kedavra _have no affect on these intruders. The girl, who he had established as the leader, laughed insanely. Voldemort abruptly stood up, and the curses all stopped.

He proceeded slowly toward the group of offenders, with Nagini by his side, and again asked. "Who are you?"

The girl continued grinning madly. "I'm Lotti. And I'm not into guys like you, so save your breath." She looked pointedly at Voldemort's (not) nose. "You seem to need it."

Lotti's subordinates behind her shifted awkwardly, while Voldemort's minions cried out in outrage. Bellatrix gave a particularly loud screech.

Voldemort silenced them all with a "Quiet!", and glared at Lotti. "I don't care for your name! A better question would be: _What_ are you? Why aren't you dead? And why are you here?"

"I'm a Baskerville," Lotti replied as if that sentence answered everything. "I'm here…to seek assistance."

"What kind of assistance?" Lord Voldemort was not considering it. He was only curious of these people who could survive the killing curse. Were they possibly immortal?

"Manpower. We're searching for something." Lotti was no longer smiling, but had a determined look on her face.

"What, exactly, is this item you are searching for?" If it was the same item he was working to obtain…

Lotti narrowed her eyes. "A…black stone. It's not necessary for you to know, anyway!"

Voldemort stared down at the insolent girl, and decided to be patient. "And what would I get in return?"

Lotti seemed to consider it for a while before taking a deep breath a holding out a hand. A large lion with a demon's wings appeared by her side and circled around her lovingly. The Death Eater looked on apprehensively, with raised wands, but awaited their master's orders.

"This is a chain—his name is Leon," Lottie said, petting Leon. She then looked Voldemort straight in the eyes. "In exchange for yours, I'll lend you _our_ manpower."

Nagini hissed and backed away, to Voldemort's surprise. _'Master,' she said, 'It is dangerous!'_

Voldemort knew that Nagini's warnings were always accurate; however, _who _the "chain" was dangerous to would depend on his next reaction. "Severus," the Dark Lord called.

Said man stepped out from the other Death Eaters and kneeled in front of his master.

"Severus," the Dark Lord continued, "Assist these three with their…request."

"Yes, my lord." With that, Voldemort dismissed the meeting, and Severus Snape led three Baskervilles and one chain out of the room.

* * *

><p>Lotti opened the door on the room and plopped down on the couch with Lily after recalling her chain. Doug was sitting on the other couch, silent as usual. Their escort was staring at Lily skeptically. Lotti had expected it—with her hood down, Lily looked like a little kid. However, Lily wasn't being her usual kid-like self. Lotti had expected that, too. Fang had died protecting Lily, after all. His death had hit her the hardest.<p>

"Sevy—it was Sevy, right?" Lotti directed this to the black-haired minion of "Voldemort's" (ridiculous name, really).

The man scowled at her in response, but Lotti cut him off before he could speak. "We'd like some food."

Severus gave her another cold glare before calling on one of those house elves. A few seconds later, food was laid out on the table in the middle of the room, and Severus was still glaring by the doorway.

Lily and Doug discreetly checked for poison before eating, and Lotti took a bite a roll of bread before addressing Severus. "If there's nothing else, you can leave."

The man pointed to the three doors on the other side of the room. "Those are your bedrooms. Also, you are not to leave these rooms until you're given permission." Without another word, he turned to open the door. Immediately, Lily faced Lotti.

"Lotti, about Xerxes Break—"

The door shut, and Lotti smiled sadly at Lily before running a hand through her hair. She could feel the murderous aura coming from Doug. "I know," she said, "We'll definitely get our revenge on him, no matter what. And soon our master will come back to us too!"

Lily tilted her head in question. "Vincent is working on that right now, right?"

Lotti nodded and sighed. "Really, I'd like for us to search for our master ourselves, but Vincent has a better idea about where to search. In any case…" Lottie bit into the bread again. "We just have to find and destroy the sealing stones—and there are only two left. It really didn't matter who we teamed up with, but 'The Dark Lord' was a better option than getting involved in this magical world's government. We'll avenge Fang soon."

Lily nodded and rubbed at her eyes, dozing off. Lotti gave her a smile and picked her up to tuck her in. "Goodnight, Doug."

Doug nodded and stood up. Lotti opened one of the doors to the bedrooms and set Lily under the covers before heading to her own room. She really needed to catch up on some sleep.

* * *

><p>Severus Snape stalked down the halls of Voldemort's hideout with many thoughts running through his mind. Right after spending a few seconds with those "Baskervilles", he had immediately disliked them, just as he had immediately disliked those northern islanders residing in the fool Sirius' place (specifically Break).<p>

He also decided they were an insane group. To be able to find this hideout, know who it belonged to, and then _intrude_ in it was stupid enough. But that leader-girl also basically made fun of _**The Dark Lord**_ in his own territory, with dozens of Death Eaters around. Being able to survive the killing curses was amazing, granted, and both that and those "chains" could become Voldemort's weapons if used correctly. It didn't make those three any less crazy, though. They even had a little girl with them!

Severus grit his teeth as he recalled the name that little girl spoke. "Xerxes Break"… If the Break that was staying at the Order's headquarters was the same Break acquainted with the Baskervilles that joined Voldemort…

Severus hurried away from the grounds and apparated off to 12 Grimmauld Place.

* * *

><p><strong>I apologize for not updating last week without a notice beforehand. I'm a procrastinator…<strong>

***I'll probably do a few other week-long time skips.**

***Yeah, don't know where Voldemort's hideout of Book 5 is…**

**Thank you for reading, and your reviews, and for adding this to your story alerts and favorites. And for your patience. **


	11. Chapter 11

Question Session~

Severus Snape glared at Black and before deciding to ignore him in favor of glaring at Xerxes Break and Raven. He had arrived rather late, and all the children had gone off to sleep. The only ones still up were Black (Severus guessed he might be insomniac) and the two from the northern islands. He had not forgotten to contact Dumbledore about the problem beforehand, and the headmaster promised to arrive at the house soon.

"Is there a reason you're here, Snivellus?"

Severus bit back a harsh reply and said nothing, but instead opted to address the other problem. He sat down. Sirius probably realized he wouldn't get an answer, and sat down as well.

"So what is it?" Break had asked the question with his usual infuriating smile, which only caused Severus to frown further.

"I won't assume," he said. After all, assumptions could kill a man. "But I will say I've never once, and never will, drop my suspicion of you. It would be in your best interest to tell the truth. So explain to me your connection with the 'Baskervilles'."

Many things happened at once. Break dropped his smile and gave him a cold look; Raven stood up and placed a hand on his holster (only to remember the gun was re-confiscated when he shot Walburga Black's portrait); Black raised his eyebrows, and Severus drew his wand. Everyone stared at each other for a minute before Sirius raised his hands.

"So…" He directed his gaze to Break and Raven, and pointed at his old rival. "He's the only one with a weapon…" Break's cane-sword had not been relinquished to him yet, as after Arthur had finished inspecting it, Moody demanded to see it.

"Not necessarily," Break said, but he leaned back in the chair. Raven sat back down, but stared at the wand wearily.

"The Baskervilles are our enemies, simply put," Break said. "Why?"

Severus lowered his wand. "They're in contact with the Dark Lord."

Break asked, "You would know this how?"

At the same time, Sirius growled. "And we can trust this information coming from you?"

"You've got no one else to trust," Severus snapped at his childhood enemy and avoided Break's question. He took a small bottle from his robe pocket and placed it in the middle of the table before facing the others again. "Of course, it would be much easier to trust _you_ if you would take Veritaserum to confirm you're telling the truth."

Break didn't like this development. He didn't especially want to get involved with Voldemort (simply finding the sealing stone and returning was all he needed to do), it seemed inevitable, if the damn Baskervilles who almost killed Reim had also teamed up with these wizards' opponent. "Fine," he finally said, "But we'll only relay our secrets if you relay yours."

More scowling occurred, until another visitor cleared his throat. Dumbledore stood at the doorway with a tired smile. Nobody had noticed him, and when Sirius stood to offer him his seat, the headmaster shook his head and conjured one. Break was the only one who hadn't ceased glaring.

"I overheard the problem. But as you are our guests, we can't force you into taking the potion, though I would ask if you could be so kind to explain your relationship to these 'Baskervilles' further."

Break relaxed his expression slightly. "It's not that we won't take it. But if we do, then you should as well."

Severus sneered. "You _do_ realize you're not in a position to complain?"

Break smiled. "And _you _do realize we haven't revealed all our cards yet?"

Gilbert's eye twitched at the upcoming argument. He had stayed quiet up till now, but this was going nowhere _fast_. "I'll take the Veri—verita—the damn potion!" While he didn't want to admit it, Gilbert knew he probably knew less about the overall situation than Break did, anyway. "And Break will ask the questions."

Sirius glanced at the bottle on the table's center, and volunteered to take the Veritaserum himself. He didn't want to comply with his arch nemesis, but he knew that Severus would probably be asking the questions since he was the one who knew what these "Baskervilles" were. And _Dumbledore_ certainly couldn't take the potion. He knew _too much_.

"Now that that's settled," Dumbledore said, "Would you two like to take the Veritaserum raw or in tea?"

Severus shot the wizard a withering look. "This isn't children's cough syrup* we're talking about."

"Hey, you." Break's face showcased a genuinely surprised expression. "Did you just diss* tea?"

"In any case," Sirius spoke up, "It doesn't really matter, since the stuff taste like water…Unless you want to drink tea?" The question was directed towards Raven.

Raven shook his head and picked up the small bottle. After a confirmation about the amount needed, he opened it and swallowed. _One. Two. _Three drops later, he handed it over to Sirius, who did the same. The bottle was placed back on the table.

"Five—or maybe six questions?" Break asked Snape.

The man nodded. "We'll take turns. Asking for elaboration won't count as another question…"

"But we can limit it to once each question. I'll go first then." Break stretched before looking his "victim" in the eye. "What is Severus Snape's relation to the Dark Lord, Voldemort?"

Severus glared at Break. Sirius grimaced but answered, "Severus Snape works as a double agent to spy on Voldemort."

Break nodded, accepting the answer, while Severus decided on his question. While he did want to ask about the Baskervilles, there was another thing that had been bothering him for awhile. He looked at 'Raven'. "What is your real full name?"

_Damn_. Gilbert didn't exactly expect for the questions to be about _him_ specifically. But he felt compelled to answer anyway. Was this the effect of the potion? "G—Gilbert Nightray."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. He had added _researching about the northern islands_ to his constantly growing "To Do" list, and found that the government consisted of four main dukedoms: Barma, who he had learned was the one Dolores Umbridge met with previously; Vessalius, who had sent one of their family members to his school; Rainsworth, who he had corresponded with, and who also sent one of their family to school; last was Nightray. This was Nightray then? Doubts about whether the two actually came on orders from their government cleared up.

Break glanced at the Albrat, who seemed to realize the meaning behind his name, before looking at Sirius again. He couldn't ask for an update about the Baskervilles, since apparently only Snape knew about them. "Why is Harry Potter so important to the Order of the Phoenix?" When Break had talked to the children, they were surprised he barely knew the name, and began to recount all of Harry's school adventures before realizing that it wasn't right to retell their friend's life to someone that was a total stranger to him. Well, he at least learned that Sirius Black was Harry's godfather.

This time, it was Sirius who glared at Break. While he had grown to like the two northern islanders, he did _not_ want to involve them with Harry unless it was for Harry's protection. "Harry…survived Voldemort's killing curse when he was a baby, and continued to thwart his plans, so the Dark Lord wants revenge on him."

"How are the Baskervilles your enemies?"

"The Baskervilles are a fallen dukedom in the northern islands who have been constantly committing evil acts."

"Elaborate on how the Baskervilles are enemies with Xerxes Break specifically," Severus continued. The red-cloaked trio knew Break's name specifically, after all.

"Break killed one of their members."

Severus narrowed his eyes in confusion, but said nothing. Break asked, "Why are Harry Potter and Dumbdoor getting denounced by the media?"

"The media thinks their claims of Voldemort returning are rubbish."

"And who would be at the top of all that?"

Sirius' eye twitched. "The damn Ministry of Magic and 'Minister' Cornelius Fudge!"

"…How did Break could kill a Baskerville when multiple _Avada Kedavras _couldn't even hurt them?"

Sirius' whipped his head towards Severus with wide eyes, and Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed further. Harry was the only one who had ever…

Gilbert bit his lip. This was rather one-sided wasn't it? True, he and Break had kept more secrets than the other side did, but they were getting no information about the sealing stone from this. "Break killed the Baskerville using his sword in combination with the Mad Hatter."

_The Mad Hatter?_ If Sirius remembered right, that was the alias Remus told him Break went by when they first met.

"What is the Mad Hatter?"

"A chain."

Severus rolled his eyes at the blunt answer, but he couldn't ask anything else with the "elaboration limit".

Break smirked. Three questions left—now was the time to find the best places to search for the sealing stone. "How do I enter the Ministry?"

Arthur had told Sirius once. But why did Break want to know? "There is a broken payphone in the center of London, and if you enter 62442, you'll be granted a pass."

Break nodded. Hopefully, if he could find the payphone, he'd be able to enter the Ministry illegally, though he might need to know the place's layout.

"What is the purpose of a chain?"

"A chain acts as a weapon for contractors."

"Where is the location of Azkaban?"

Sirius sat up straighter. Did he want to go there? Was he crazy? Well, yeah he was, but… "It's uplottable—"

"You've been there."

"…But it's on the smallest island in the North Sea…"

Break sighed. This search was getting further and further away from the sealing stone's general location of "Great Britain" wasn't it? Break wasn't sure if the fact that Duke Barma didn't have specific information was good or bad.

"What is the power of a chain?"

"A chain's powers vary. Each chain is different."

Severus pondered it. If each separate chain was different in terms of _power_, they were quite unlike wands.

"What are the powers of _your_ chain?" Severus was guessing Gilbert had a chain. But whether he did or not, the question would not go to waste.

"…Teleportation, certain illusions, seals, and flames."

Last questions. However… "Dumbledore," Break said, "In forfeiting this last question, I'd like to ask _you_ some other questions privately."

Dumbledore kept a smile. "And these questions would be about?"

"Tom Riddle. And his hiding places."

While Dumbledore only gained a sad look in his eyes, Sirius and Severus were looking very uncomfortable. Neither said anything, waiting for Dumbledore's answer.

"I will talk to you personally," Albus said, "But I'd also like to substitute for Severus in asking Ra—ah, I mean Gilbert, the last question."

Break glanced at Gilbert, then looked back at Dumbledore, and agreed.

"Please tell me…what is your relationship to Oz Vessalius?"

When Remus had come back from shopping with the young representatives, he had asked Dumbledore about his thoughts on Oz's reaction to his question about 'Raven' and 'Break'. Oz had immediately inferred the name 'Raven' to be referring to actual ravens, and he also seemed to forget 'Xerxes Break' was also mentioned. Remus said that although that sort of reaction would make sense, the pair seemed more subdued until they reached the Olliviander's.

Albus smiled at the memory. He expected Remus would have been the only one to spot that. The reason Albus wanted to know how Oz and Alice were connected to Gilbert and Break was because he wanted to know if they were on the same side. Governments could have infighting, after all. The children currently staying at Hogwarts may or may not have come with the same purposes as the two in front of him. (Dumbledore could not believe that any government would actually send children to represent them. However, Dumbledore also knew that cover stories were quite common, and that the northern islands would at the very least send competent people.)

What Dumbledore wasn't expecting, however, was Gilbert's reaction.

Being the kind of powerful wizard he was, Albus had made massive amounts of enemies over the years. More recently though, the only time he'd seen such a look of pure hate and contempt was on Tom Riddle.

But was that look directed at him or at Oz?

Gilbert tried to not answer. He really _really_ tried. He would have preferred _anything_ over possibly endangering Oz. But this potion! This damn _damn_ potion!

"O-Oz Vessalius is my friend…" He looked down miserably. "And my master…"

The Veritaserum finally started wearing off, a moment too late. Gilbert sprang up and faced Dumbledore again.

"And if you ever, _ever_ even _think_ about hurting him, I'll _kill_ you!"

Sirius had no idea who Oz Vessalius was, but he had never seen Gilbert this angry. Irritated, sure. He was semi-mad on occasions too. But now he was furious.

Severus _did_ know who Oz was. He would soon be one of his professors, after all, and he noticed the boy picked things up naturally. After witnessing him stay up at night to practice spells, though, he guessed it was due to hard work instead. Oz was a bit too…happy for Severus. Like a younger and more sparkly Dumbledore. The black haired man was surprised that the child was the master of this (right now) really dangerous and loyal man. He was briefly reminded of his own loyalties, but he shook his head to clear the thoughts.

Albus was also surprised that Oz was Gilbert's master, but he was more shocked by the fact that Gilbert knew where Oz was, and believed that he would hurt one of his (future) students.

Break, who showed no emotion other than a tinge of worry, broke the silence. "Oz is not defenseless, Gilbert."

"Do you mean he has a chain too?" Snape asked.

"Break!"

"Excuse me."

Everyone turned to Dumbledore, who smiled at Gilbert kindly. "I make it my policy to protect all of my students and look out for their best interests, regardless of their origins and purposes for coming. Please understand. I have no ill intent towards Oz."

Gilbert relaxed. "Thank you…and…I apologize." With that, he turned around and went up the stairway.

"He's not kidding though."

The three wizards faced Break, who was still looking up the stairs. "That was a promise. Not that I believe you'd attempt to hurt Oz…well, he's got his own ways of defending himself. The best way to put it…" Break faced Dumbledore with a smile. "He's the same kind of brat as you."

"I see." Dumbledore answered with a smile of his own. "But how did you know Oz was placed under my care?"

Break smirked and leaned forward as if to expose a secret. "About that—Gil's a stalker, you see."

"BREAK!"

* * *

><p><strong>This was an information chapter…or rather, a chapter to let the two sides get information on the other side. So kinda filler, but it's necessary. Though did I overdo the whole questioning thing? And I tried a new way of writing…I think? Was it too confusing?<strong>

***I'm guessing Snape knows what children's cough syrup is, considering his muggle upbringing. **

***Is "Did you just diss tea?" too OOC for Break? It _is_ slang…**

**Alright, time for the excuse for not updating. I got interested in CLAMP. And I had just finished reading volume 14 of xxxholic when I figured 'Hm, maybe I should go read Tsubasa Chronicles to better understand this.' But I thought Cardcaptor Sakura was the prequel to Tsubasa so I went and read those 12 volumes first. And then on volume 24 of Tsubasa, when I finally figured out that the original Sakura and Syaoran weren't going to show up ('cept for that one dream) I was all 'I was cheated! They _tricked_ me!' But yeah, I finished everything up (decided to make a chart to help clear up the whole Tsubasa-clone-ending-thing) and went on to read the CLAMP title Tokyo Babylon, but it left on a cliffhanger so I just _had_ to read the sequel, X(1999). But I never finished that, and I decided to find a good anime, so I tried Sakamichi no Apollon (new jazz anime) which I loved. I needed more action though and started Darker than Black. **

**Better excuse: My school orchestra (I play violin) had like four concerts four weeks in a row (though I shouldn't really complain…). One of those concerts, accurately nicknamed the "Fail Concert" (we composed our own music and played it in front of the class and on stage) was the same week as end-of-the-quarter testing.**

**So thank you for your patience. Also, Watanuki is awesome. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Did I mention I would go along with canon Harry Potter pairings?**

**Also: This chapter contains direct references to the text.**

* * *

><p>Troubled Days~<p>

Fred turned the extendable ear over in his hands and handed it over to his twin, who did the same before placing it on the floor. Hermione was staring at a book but not really reading it; Ginny glanced at the door every so often, and Ron—Ron was just annoyed they kept waking him up early by barging into his room to hold meetings.

"Could you repeat that?" Ron asked. The question was directed to the twins—he hadn't heard what they said the first time as he was trying harder to stay awake. Hermione's book-to-the-head helped him along.

George nodded. "Last night, after dad and mum went to sleep, Fred and I heard something downstairs, so we went to investigate—and it was Snape!"

Ron looked highly affronted. "Why's that git visiting us in the middle of night?"

"It wasn't _us _he was visiting," Fred said, "It was Break and Raven…or, well, his real name is Gilbert Nightray. Dumbledore was there too."

"And why?"

Fred and George looked at each other. Fred spoke. "Sirius and Break took Veritaserum."

"_What?_ You mean that evil snake—"

"Ron!" Hermione gave him a scolding look. "If you had listened the first time, you'd know they did it willingly."

"…Oh… But then why'd they take the potion?"

"Apparently to get information from each other," George said, "They were going to ask each other questions—six. Fred and I only stayed long enough to listen to three from each."

"What'd they ask?"

"Snape asked for Raven's real name, and for information about these Baskerville people… apparently they joined up with You-Know-Who…and can't be killed by, er, 'multiple Avada Kedavras'."

"What!"

"Ra—Gilbert said Break was able to kill one these Baskervilles through the use of a chain called the _Mad_ _Hatter_."

Ron gave the twins a skeptical look. "That makes no sense."

"I know!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. She glared down at the book she was not reading angrily. "I can't find anything about the northern islands, and if these Baskervilles and chains and everything else is connected to them, we have no sources of information!"

The twins gave her a pointed look and she rolled her eyes but added, "…Other than eavesdropping."

Fred smiled at her brightly before continuing where they left off. "Anyway, Break asked about Snape being You-Know-Who's spy…and then about Harry…"

_Ah_. Ginny shifted in her seat. "Do you think we can trust Break?"

The children had grown fond of the two northern-islanders over the days/weeks. The guests spent time with the children as well, and they felt Break and Gilbert had become semi-friends. Three days ago, Break had asked about Harry.

"_You don't know him!"Ron exclaimed. _

_Break smiled. "Well, I **am** asking about him."_

_Ron leaned back and muttered something about 'northern-island wizards'. Fred leaned forward and grinned at the white-haired man._

"_Harry's only one of the most famous wizards ever, mate."_

_Break shrugged. "I at least know that. Raven read the newspaper out loud."_

_Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "I hope you're not listening to that _Daily Prophet_ rubbish. They're completely destroying Harry and Dumbledore."_

"_Then what Harry's saying isn't lies?"_

"_No!" Ron shouted. "We're his friends; we **know** he's telling the truth!"_

"_Oh? You know him personally?"_

_Hermione nodded. "In our first year at Hogwarts he and Ron saved me from a troll and we discovered the Sorcerer's stone."_

"_In his second year—my first year," Ginny continued and blushed slightly. "He saved me from a basilisk and from Tom Riddle—that's You-Know-Who's true name."_

"_In our third year," Ron said, "We were able to able save Sirius from an unfair death." _

"_Sirius…" Break tilted his head at the familiar name and pointed at the floor. "The owner of this house?"_

"_He's Harry's godfather," George clarified._

"_In our little brother's fourth year…" Fred had started excitedly but then cut himself off when he remembered exactly **what** happened in Harry's fourth year. Frowns appeared on the faces of the other children too. "Actually…uh…" The other years were easy to talk about, since they also participated in the action. Last year, however…_

_Break noticed their silence and decided not to push them. "I'm alright. There's no need to tell me more."_

"…_Thank you," Ginny said. She hesitated before asking, "Um, Break, could you promise us something?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_If-if you ever meet Harry, and if he ever gets in danger—he's good at that…could you protect him? I mean, I know you have no obligation to but…"_

_Break's eyes had widened a little in surprise, but he ended smiling at her. "I promise to protect him." Ginny smiled. "…Your boyfriend that is."There was a pause, and then Ginny blushed, Hermione smiled, Fred and George burst out laughing, and Ron stared at Ginny blankly. _

"_What."_

"_It's nothing, Ron," Hermione assured him. _

"_What—but—I don't even—what…"_

"_Ronniekins." Fred shook his head at his brother, still smiling. "Poor, poor Ronniekins."_

"_Do you have friends like that too?" George asked Break. He had ended up sitting next to the blind man, and watched his family happily. He was referring to the group's constant worry and protectiveness of Harry. _

_Break leaned back against the bed and looked down at his shadow. "I do. They're…good people. Really, **really** strange, but good people."_

"He's trustable," George finally answered with a small smile. "He'll keep to his promises. He definitely will."

* * *

><p>Harry Potter believed this was the worst summer he'd ever had. Being forced back to the Dursley's for a whole three months just after witnessing Voldemort <em>return<em> would obviously put him in a bad mood. But what made it worse was the fact that _no one was telling him anything_! Harry was forced to find out everything himself by sneaking around (not that it helped much). He had tried to relax in the park after receiving more un-informative letters from Hermione and Ron, but only ended up angrier.

He let out a frustrated sigh and kicked a pebble. _'Dumbledore won't let us say anything,' they wrote!', _Harry thought bitterly. When had the words of others and the "rules" stop them before? When the Sorcerer's stone was in danger their first year—or when Hermione was petrified by the Basilisk their second year—they had no time to care about the rules! Was this not the same type of situation? Voldemort is much more dangerous, too!

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Dudley see off his "friends". Dudley walked back and narrowed his eyes when he noticed Harry. Harry stood up from the bench and did the same. He walked towards his cousin.

"Have a nice tea party with your little friends, _Big D_?"

"Big D" scowled at him and promptly told him to shut up before quickening his pace. Harry caught up.

"You…bullied someone again, didn't you?"

Dudley rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not like you—acting tough by carrying around that—that _thing_ when all you do is cry at night!"

Harry stopped in his tracks. "What…"

Dudley turned around and grinned at him. "I bet Cedric's a pansy just like you!"

Harry had drawn his wand and pinned Dudley to the wall faster than you can say "Merlin". His expression was a mixture of anger and grief. His hand shook unstably.

"Don't you make fun of him!"

Dudley eyed the wand and squirmed slightly but said nothing.

"Don't _ever_ talk about this again!"

"Point that away!"

"I said—"

Before Harry could finish his sentence, the two boys felt an unnatural chill fill the air. Everything had suddenly turned cold and dark. The Boy-Who-Lived looked around wildly. Had he done accidental magic? But no—this feeling… Harry dropped his wand and wrenched at his heart as he recognized it—that awful hopeless feeling. The aura of dementors!

"St-stop it!" Dudley cried. "Whatever you're doing! M-make it stop!"

Harry looked back up at his cousin, half angry, half desperate. "I'm not doing anything! Just—"

But Harry was pushed aside; his head hit the wall. Dudley ran off, frightened, not caring about the destination as long as it was _away_. Harry grit his teeth, and his eyes widened.

"DUDLEY STOP! It's right there! Don't—"

Harry spun around as a high-pitched wail came both directions. _'There are two!'_ "DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"

He immediately dropped to the ground to find his wand. After grasping the familiar weapon, he quickly shouted "Lumos!"

He jumped up and turned around again, feeling slightly happier, only to come face to face with a black cloaked horror. Harry scrambled backwards and raised his wand, concentrating. _'Happy thoughts…happy thoughts…happy thoughts!'_

But there were no happy thoughts! Harry ran backwards, not wanting to let the creature out of his sight, but not wanting to let it catch up to him either. "Expecto Patronum!"

As expected, it failed. Only a tiny wisp of silver came out of the tip of the wand. _'Please…something happy!'_ He squeezed his eyes shut as the dementor advanced further, and finally he imagined the smiling faces of Ron and Hermione—his friends!

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A large silver stag sprouted from the wand and charged the dementor, forcing it away. Harry felt instant relief wash over him, and then remembered the gravity of the situation. _Dudley!_

"Come on!" Harry shouted. The stag obeyed, and they ran as fast as they could towards the direction Harry had seen his cousin run in. They came upon him quickly, crouching and shivering; the dementor was reaching to kiss him—

"GO!" Harry's patronus dashed forward and rammed into the second dementor, driving it away, before disappearing too.

Light returned to the world. Harry groaned and stumbled forward to reach Dudley. As he was about to check his cousin's condition, he heard loud footsteps running towards him and spun around with a drawn wand only to face his old neighbor, Mrs. Arabella Figg.

He hurriedly reached to hide his wand, and stopped when she screeched, "NO! Don't! What if they come again? What if there are more! I'm going to kill that _worthless_—"

Harry watched her move around frantically in silent shock, trying to process everything that happened. He tried listening to her, only to end up more confused. This woman was a squib? She's been watching him for _how long_ then? Another wizard was supposed to be watching him? And Dumbledore… What—What?

And finally she stopped shouting (but was still panicking) and attempted to hoist up the big cousin, only fail miserably. "Get up! Useless—useless! Everyone one of them!"

Harry shook his head—he'd have to figure this out later. He stood in for Mrs. Figg and managed to drag Dudley up from the ground. He could only barely support his cousin, who looked ready to pass out at any second.

"…You never told me you were a squib," Harry said. He was staring straight ahead while walking, trying to focus on getting answers and keeping Dudley from falling.

"It was Dumbledore's orders. Oh, I'm sorry for all those miserable times, but the Dursley's wouldn't have let you come if you _wanted_ to! And now that wretched Mundungus Fletcher has gone off his protection duties to buy stolen cauldrons—that IDIOT! We need to tell Dumbledore about the dementors! Soon! And the Ministry will already be on your heels and—" She was ranting again.

Both Mrs. Figg and Harry gave a start when a loud crack sounded out; Harry now attempted to hold up his cousin while pointing his wand. The man who had apparated had long ginger hair and bloodshot eyes. He carried a tired look on him—but it wasn't the tired look of a hard worker that Remus always wore—it was the tired look of a shady businessman coming back from a long underground deal.

The man glanced at the drawn wand, the wand's owner, and the wand's owner's cousin in confusion, and then greeted Mrs. Figg. She responded by hitting him with her bag.

"MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER YOU COMPLETE DOLT! YOU PILE OF BAT DROPPINGS! YOU—"

"What!"

"Dementors you idiot! On your watch!" She continued to whack the man with the bag, using him as a substitute stress ball.

"Eh? What? Demen—Ouch! Stop that! We needa tell Dumbledore!"

"_You_ better tell Dumbledore! And you better tell him why you weren't here to protect the boy too!"

Mundungus gave the woman a strangled look before apparating off with another crack.

Mrs. Figgs continued her ranting while walking.

And Harry could only sigh.

* * *

><p>'<strong>Bout time Harry appeared, right?<strong>

**Thank you for reading! **


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